HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 


EARLIEST  AGES  TO  THE  COMMENCEMENT 

OF  THE 

NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


BY 

ROBLEY  DUNGLISON,  M.D.,  LL.D., 

LATE  PROFESSOR  OF  THE  INSTITUTES  OF  MEDICINE  AND  MEDICAL  JURISPRUDENCE 

IN  THE  JEFFERSON  MEDICAL  COLLEGE  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 

ETC.  ETC. 


ARRANGED  AND  EDITED  BY 


RICHARD  J.  DUNGLISOX,  M.D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
LINDSAY    AND    BLAKISTON, 

1872. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 
RICHAKD  J.  DUNGLISON,  M.D., 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress.     All  rights  reserved. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
COLLIXS,  PRINTER,  705  JAYXE  STREET. 


Hmit 

PREFACE 


The  history  of  the  progressive  steps  in  the  develop- 
ment of  medicine,  embraced  in  these  pages,  is  an  em- 
bodiment of  the  course  of  lectures  delivered  by  my  father 
at  tlie  University  of  Virginia  many  years  since.  The 
arduous  duties  devolved  upon  him  in  that  institution 
covered  a  much  more  comprehensive  field  than  would  be 
possible  or  practicable  at  the  present  day.  The  labor 
now  usually  allotted  to  almost  an  entire  faculty  of  pro- 
fessors was  there  assigned  to  him  alone ;  for,  according 
to  the  terms  of  his  appointment,  he  was  expected  "  to 
teach  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  and  with  due  diligence, 
Anatomy,  Surgery,  The  History  of  the  Progress  and 
Theories  of  Medicine,  Physiology,  Materia  Medica,  and 
Pharmacy."  Such  an  aggregation  of  branches  of  instruc- 
tion must  have  severely  taxed  the  energies,  while  it 
doubtless  stimulated  the  ambition,  of  the  then  young 
professor. 

It  seemed  to  be  the  desire  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  at  that 
time  Rector  of  the  University,  and  of  those  associated 
with  that  illustrious  personage  in  its  government,  that 
the  student  should  learn  something  of  the  earlier  pro- 
gress of  the  science  and  the  art,  while  he  was  at  the  same 
time  pursuing  a  course  of  instruction  in  the  usual  tech- 
nical details  of  a  collegiate  medical  education.  It  was 
a  wise  provision  that  thus  incorporated  with  the  other 


iv  PREFACE, 


features  of  a  didactic  course  a  knowledge  of  medical 
literature,  which,  however  valuable,  is  generally  con- 
sidered as  an  accomplishment  rather  than  as  an  indis- 
pensable necessit}'.  The  students  of  those  times  were 
therefore,  in  this  particular,  a  step  in  advance  of  the 
condition  of  their  successors  of  the  present  day,  who  are 
left  to  gather  their  information  on  the  previous  state  of 
medicine  in  whatever  manner  the}'  maj'  find  it  practicable 
or  convenient  to  do  so,  after  graduation.  Even  at  this 
period,  however,  the  difficult}'  arises  that  there  is  scarcely 
a  convenient  congenial  work  on  the  history  of  medicine 
to  which  they  can  have  access,  and  the  study  of  this 
subject  is  therefore  usually  wholl}'  neglected. 

It  is  believed  that  the  present  work  will  supph'  the 
want,  long  felt  b}"  the  profession,  of  a  condensed  history 
of  the  progress  of  medicine,  presenting  all  the  main  facts 
in  systematic  order,  avoiding,  as  much  as  possible,  pro- 
lixity or  unnecessar}'  discussion  of  the  merits  of  men 
and  theories,  and  not  laying  an}'  claim  whatever  to  the 
title  of  an  exhaustive  treatise.  When  these  lectures  were 
delivered,  the  works  of  Freind,  Sprengel,  and  a  few  other 
foreign  authors,  were  the  main  reliance  of  the  medical 
historiographer.  It  is  but  just  to  state  that  some  of 
the  material  used  in  the  lectures,  on  which  this  volume 
is  based,  were  derived  from  these  trustworthy  sources. 
Some  portions,  especially  those  referring  to  the  history 
of  the  progress  of  medicine  among  the  most  primitive 
nations,  are  translated  or  condensed  from  the  celebrated 
Geschichte  der  Arzneykunde  of  Kurt  Sprengel,  published 
near  the  beginning  of  this  century. 

The  section  included  in  brackets,  relating  to  American 
medical  history,  has  been  added  by  the  Editor,  to  give 
greater  completeness  to  the  work. 

K.  J.  D. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN  OF  MEDICINE. 

PAGK 

Introduction— Early  history  involved  in  obscurity— Super- 
stitious practices— First  treatment  of  the  sick    .         .        .17 


CHAPTER  11. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

Medical  powers  of  Isis  and  of  other  deities— First  books  on 
medicine — Early  works  on  anatomy,  diseases  of  females, 
&c. — Priest-practitioners,  their  manners  and  customs, 
dietetic  rules,  &c. — Practitioners  of  specialties — Treatment 
of  various  diseases — Medicines  used  by  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians— Description  of  the  process  of  embalming — Early 
aversion  to  dissection — Ignorance  of  anatomy,  physiology, 
&c .28 


CHAPTER  III. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

Medical  mythology— Orpheus— ^sculapius ;  his  life  and 
medical  opinions — The  sons  of  ^sculapius — First  recorded 
operation  of  bloodletting — Practice  of  medicine  in  the  tem- 
ples—Votive tablets— Early  medicines— First  notions  on 

anatomy,  &c 36 

* 


vi  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE   ROMANS  TO  THE  TIME  OF  CATO  THE 

CENSOR. 

PAGE 

Tiieir  early  knowledge  derived  from  the  Greeks— Establish- 
ment of  medicinse  or  shops  by  the  freedmen — Medical 
practitioners  exempted  from  banishment — Archagathus, 
the  executioner — Porcius  Cato,  censor  and  physician         .     53 


CHAPTER  V. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE   JEWS  TP  TO  THE  CAPTIVITY  OF 
BABYLON. 

Egyptian  origin  of  their  medical  knowledge — Medical  attain- 
ments of  Moses  and  the  lawgivers — Cure  of  the  lepra — The 
healing  art  a  vocation  of  the  prophets — Medical  work  of 
Solomon — Recorded  cases  of  paralysis,  affections  of  the 
intestines,  leprosy,  etc. — First  origin  of  monks  and  monk 
physicians 57 

CHAPTER  YI. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  HINDOOS. 

Early  state  of  civilization — Brahmin  physicians — Laws  in 
regard  to  poisons — Diseases  caused  by  evil  genii — Super- 
stitions— Pathology  of  the  Hindoos — Treatment  of  fevers, 
smallpox,  &c 65 

CHAPTER  YII. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  CHINESE  AND  JAPANESE. 

Causes  of  their  imperfect  civilization — Ancient  code  of  the 
Chinese  physicians — Medical  schools— Chinese  knowledge 
of  anatomy,  physiology,  &c.  —Exploration  of  the  pulse 
— Physicians  of  the  court  of  Pekin — Medical  knowledge 
and  practice  of  the  Japanese — The  moxa,  its  preparation 
and  uses 71 


CONTENTS.  Vll 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  SCYTHIANS. 

PAGE 

Progress  of  their  civilization — Wonderful  cures — Abaris,  the 
Hyperborean — Anacharsis — Toxaris 81 

CHAPTER  IX. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  CELTS. 

The  Gauls  and  the  Belga? — The  Druids,  the  Eubages,  and 
the  Bards — Medical  sorceresses — Druidical  remedies  .     84 

CHAPTER  X. 

FIRST  TRACES  OF  A  MEDICAL  THEORY  IN  THE  PHILOSO- 
PHIC SCHOOLS  OF  GREECE. 

•Medicine  emerging  from  the  age  of  superstition — Pj^thagoras 
and  his  school — His  services  to  the  cause  of  medicine — Die- 
tetic and  other  regulations  of  himself  and  followers — Psy- 
chological and  physiological  theories — Medical  practice  of 
his  time — Alcma^on,  the  first  comparative  anatomist — Most 
ancient  treatise  on  physiology — Empedocles  of  Agrigentum 
— His  valuable  services  in  time  of  an  epidemic — His  views 
on  anatomy  and  physiology — Successors  of  Pythagoras — 
Anaxagoras  and  his  views — Democritus  of  Abdera — Demo- 
cedes  of  Crotona — Gymnastic  physicians — Political  con- 
dition of  the  physicians  of  Greece — Military  surgeons — 
Charlatans  .        .        .  ' 86 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE  AGE  OF  HIPPOCRATES. 

Revolution  in  medical  science — Important  era  in  the  history 
of  medicine — Biographical  sketch  of  Hippocrates — His 
medical  career— The  great  plague  at  Athens— Brilliant 
cures— Authenticity  of  his  works— Books  falsely  ascribed 
to  him — His  undisputed  works — His  knowledge  and  views 
on  anatomy,  physiology,  semeiology,  pathology,  thera- 
peutics, surgery,  dietetics,  bloodletting,  &c.       .         .         .  104 


viii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  IMMEDIATE  SUCCESSORS  OP   HIPPOCRATES. 

PAGE 

Founders  of  the  dogmatic  school— Liberal  views  and  civili- 
zation of  the  time— Aristotle— His  views  on  anatomy,  phy- 
siology, &c.— Theophrastns— Praxagoras  and  his  physio- 
logical discoveries — The  term  arteries  first  employed — 
Medical  practice  of  the  period — The  age  of  the  Ptolemies 
— The  library  of  Alexandria — Publication  of  doubtful 
works,  interpolated  manuscripts,  &c. — Medical  school  of 
Alexandria — Herophilus  and  Erasistratus;  their  discoveries 
and  views — Their  followers — Division  of  medicine  into  its 
branches,  surgery,  pharmacy,  &c. — The  surgeons  of  Alex- 
andria and  their  operations — Lithotomists — Surgical  appa- 
ratus— Proliibitions  to  young  surgeons       .        .        .         .126 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  EMPIRICAL  SCHOOL. 

Origin  of  the  empirical  sect — Views  and  theories  of  the  em- 
pirics contrasted  with  those  of  their  predecessors — Trau- 
matic tlieoiy — Their  neglect  of  anatomy  and  physiology 
— Distinguished  followers  of  this  school     ....  146 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

STATE  OF  MEDICIXE  NEAR  THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 
ERA. 

Royal  toxicologists — Rome  a  centre  of  attraction  to  the  world 
— Asclepiades  and  his  views  on  anatomy,  patholog}^,  &c. 
— Bronchotomy  first  proposed — Disciples  of  Asclepiades 
— Themison  of  Laodicea — First  employment  of  leeching — 
Followers  of  Themison — The  methodic  school  .        .        .  153 

CHAPTER  XV. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  EARLY  CENTURIES  OF 
THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA. 

Cornelius  Celsus,  the  medical  Cicero — His  views  on  ana- 
tomy, surgery,  etc.— Elegant  Latinity  of  his  works— Con- 


CONTENTS.  IX 


PAGE 

tempt  of  Pliny  for  the  Roman  practitioners  of  this  age — 
Medical  pretensions  of  Thessahis  Trallianns — Symmachns 
and  his  clinics — The  first  medical  lexicographer — The  sub- 
divisions of  the  methodic  sect — Aretseus  and  his  medical 
practice— Medical  writings  of  Soranus— Claudius  Galenus 
■  (Galen),  his  life  and  services,  writings,  etc. — The  imme- 
diate successors  of  Galen — State  of  medical  literature  at 
this  period — School  of  Alexandria — Study  of  medicine  in 
Persia — Celebrated  medical  school  at  Edessa,  and  its  pro- 
fessors—Establishment of  the  first  institution  for  clinical 
instruction.  . 160 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  IN  EUROPE  AND  THE  EAST  FKOM 
THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

Epidemic  of  the  sixth  century — Aetius  of  Amida,  and  his  use 
of  charms —  Alexander  Trallian  —  Theophilus  —  Paulus 
jEgineta,  the  first  obstetric  physician— Medical  writers  and 
practitioners  of  the  next  centuries — Decay  of  medicine  in 
the  West  and  its  rise  in  the  East — Arabian  physicians  and 
schools — Spanish  medical  schools  and  libraries — Progress 
of  Arabian  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery — First  writer 
on  smallpox — First  account  of  academic  degrees  conferred 
— Serapion  the  elder — Rhazes  and  his  works — Avicenna — 
Albucasis — Avenzoar — Decline  of  science  in  Spain  and  the 
East  in  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth  centuries      .  183 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  AMONG  THE  MONKS  OF  THE  MIDDLE 
AGES. 

Monk  physicians  of  the  West — Cures  by  prayer,  relics,  &c. — 
English  ecclesiastical  physicians — Medidal  schools  estab- 
lished by  them  in  England  and  France — Schools  of  the 
cathedrals — Physicians  first  so  called — Curious  laws  affect- 
ing physicians — Practice  of  medicine  restricted  to  the 
lower  clergy — Eminent  medical  ecclesiastics  of  the  day 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

— Medical  celibacy — Practice  of  medicine-  by  the  nuns — 
The  Abbess  Hildegarde — Laws  in  regard  to  pregnant 
women — Constantine  the  African — Influence  of  the  Cru- 
saders— Celebrated  schools  of  Monte-Cassino  and  Saler- 
num — Dietetical  precepts  of  the  latter — Chief  physicians 
of  this  school — Degrees  of  bachelor,  licentiate,  &c.  first 
granted  to  physicians  in  France — Doctors  first  so  called   .  200 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

STATE  OF  MEDICIXE  DURING  THE  THIRTEENTH  AND 
FOURTEENTH  CENTURIES. 

Medical  progress  in  France  under  St.  Louis — Jean  Pitard — 
Lanfranc  of  Milan — Progress  of  surgery  in  Italy — The 
school  of  Bologna  and  its  followers — Encouragement  of 
medical  instruction  in  the  fourteenth  century — First  dissec- 
tion of  the  human  body — Rough  modes  of  dissection — 
Astrology  and  theosophy  intermingled  with  medicine — 
The  Arabists — Decay  of  the  school  of  Salernum        .         .  213 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Absurdities  taught  in  the  schools  and  afterwards  denounced 
by  the  fficulty  of  Paris — Distinguished  medical  men  of  the 
day — Surgery  in  the  hands  of  the  barbers  and  bathers — ' 
Scarcity  of  operators  in  Europe — Operation  for  replacing 
the  nose  when  lost — Basil  Valentine,  the  monk,  and  his 
experiments  with  antimony,  &c. — Lectures  of  Chrysolore, 
ambassador  of  the  Emperor  of  the  East — Invention  of  print- 
ing— Prevalence  of  scurvy,  lues  venerea,  &c.    .        .         .217 

CHAPTER  XX. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Improved  taste  and  knowledge  of  medicine — New  trans- 
lations of  Hippocrates  and  Galen— The  Royal  College  of 
Physicians  founded— Multitude  of  editors,  commentators, 


CONTENTS.  xi 


PAGE 

&c. — Distinguished  writers  on  practical  medicine — Medi- 
cal controversies  of  tliis  century — John  Argentier  and  his 
principles  of  reform — Belief  in  demons  as  a  cause  of  dis- 
ease— Alchemy  in  medicine — Paracelsus,  his  life,  opinions, 
and  vagaries — Chemical  medicines  more  generally  em- 
ployed— New  pharmacopoeias — Remarkable  progress  of 
anatomy  and  surgery — Improvement  in  surgical  operations 
— Treatment  of  gunshot  wounds— Study  of  special  surgical 
diseases — Tagliacozzi  and  his  rhinoplastic  operation — Re- 
markable discoveries  in  anatomy — The  daj^s  of  Sylvius, 
Vesalius,  Pare,  Fallopius,  Fabricius,  and  Eustachius        .  223 


CHAPTER  XXL 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Harvey's  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood — Advance 
of  practical  medicine — Rosicrucians — Eclectic  conciliators 
— Van  Helmont  and  his  doctrines — Sympathetic  powder  of 
Sir  Kenelm  Digby — Mathematical  sect — Borelli,  Bellini, 
Willis,  Keill,  and  other  celebrated  physicians  and  philoso- 
phers— Humoral  pathology — Malpighi,  Bartholin,  Steno, 
Aselli,  Wirsung,  Pecquet,  Wharton,  and  their  discoveries 
in  the  glandular  system,  &c. — The  days  of  Sydenham, 
Baglivi,  and  Boerhaave — Distinguished  contributors  to 
medical  science. 234 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

STATE  OP  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

New  systems  of  medicine — Doctrines  of  Stahl — Expectant 
medicine — Systems  of  Hoffmann  and  Boerhaave — Haller's 
physiological  theory  of  irritability — The  Cullenian  sys- 
tem— Doctrines  of  Brown — Darwin  and  the  laws  of  asso- 
ciation— Brilliant  progress  of  anatomy  and  physiology — 
Interesting  researches  on  the  circulation,  respiration,  ner- 
vous sj'^stem,  organs  of  the  senses,  generation,  surgery, 
pathological  anatomy,  &c. — The  concluding  years  of  the 
century — Jenner  and  the  discovery  of  vaccination — Xavier 


xu  CONTENTS. 


*        PAGE 

Bichat — John  Hunter — Other  contributors  to  medical 
science. 
Sketch  of  American  medical  history  in  the  eighteenth  century 
— Colonial  condition  of  the  country — Practice  of  medicine 
by  the  clergy  and  others — Absence  of  all  restrictions  in  its 
exercise — Practice  of  midwifery  by  women — !Modes  of 
practice — Inoculation  for  smallpox — Systems  of  medicine 
— Medical  authorshii:) — Medical  education — Medical  schools 
of  this  era — Conclusion 245 


HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE, 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN  OF  MEDICINE. 

Introduction — Early  history  involved  in  obscurity — Superstitious 
practices — First  treatment  of  the  sick. 

As  a  point  of  history,  pregnant  with  valuable 
deductions,  it  is  good  to  look  back  upon  the  condi- 
tion of  medicine  in  former  times  and  to  find  that  it 
has  always  kept  pace  with  the  progress  of  the  phy- 
sical and  moral  sciences.  Where  these,  however, 
have  been  marked  by  folly  and  credulity,  it  has  ex- 
hibited the  same  imperfections.  "When  we  notice, 
in  our  professional  ancestors,  strange  conceits,  fan- 
tastic reasoning,  and  singular  confusion  in  tracing 
the  relation  between  cause  and  eifect,  it  is  well  to 
reflect  on  the  state  of  philosophy  at  the  time ;  and 
if  we  investigate  closely,  we  shall  find  that  the 
men  who  appear  to  us  so  defective  in  their  powers 
of  observation  and  reflection  were  but  examples  of 
the  general  learning  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived. 

It  may  not  be  so  easy  for  us  to  trace  the  gradual 
improvement  in  any  two  successive  eras,  which  melt 
into  each  other  by  indefinable  gradations ;  but  if  we 

2 


1 8  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

select  distant  periods,  the  evidences  of  mental  ad- 
vancement are  signal.  In  ancient  times,  for  in- 
stance, as  with  rude,  untutored  nations  of  the 
present  day,  the  physician  acted  as  the  magician,  and 
conversely.  Physic  was  an  art  which  was  supposed  to 
he  most  mysterious,  and  its  practisers  were  presumed 
to  hold  communion  with  the  world  of  spirits.  The 
practice  of  medicine  of  those  days  was  made  up  of 
such  unreliable  agents  as  the  word  ahracadabra^ 
hung  around  the  neck  as  an  amulet,  to  chase  away 
the  ague ;  an  hexameter  from  the  Iliad  to  allay  the 
agony  of  gout,  and  a  verse  of  the  Lamentations  to 
cure  the  rheumatism. 

Many  of  the  superstitions  connected  with  the 
earlier  history  of  medicine  prevail  now  as  the}^  did 
formerly ;  but  the  facility  for  the  reception  of  the 
marvellous  and  the  imperfect  state  of  experimental 
science  at  that  time  occasioned  their  prevalence 
in  the  higher  intellects,  whilst  at  the  present  day 
they  are  mainly  restricted  to  the  vulgar.  Those 
higher  intellects  were  indeed  sadly  deficient  in 
wisdom.  Learned  they  were  in  all  the  scholastic 
knowledge  of  the  period ;  but  where  mystery  existed 
on  any  subject,  instead  of  submitting  it  to  the  test  of 
experiment  and  observation,  they  received  it  as  an 
heirloom  from  their  predecessors,  and  never  dared 
to  dispute  the  Avord  of  the  master.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  delusions  under  which  they  labored 
were  inevitable — that  the  improvement  of  the  world 
is  destined  to  proceed  in  cycles,  and  that  whenever 
a  new  light  bursts  upon  the  eye,  it  requires  some 
time  before  the  organ  can  discern  clearly  amidst  the 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MEDICINE.  19 

unaccustomed  blaze.  In  this  there  is  truth;  and, 
as  the  world  proceeds,  successive  cycles  and  epicycles 
will  doubtless  exhibit  the  fruits  of  anterior  experi- 
ence. Ages  of  obscurity,  bootless  conjecture,  and 
dreamy  enthusiasm  preceded  those  of  sound  sense 
and  rational  observation;  but  they  were  necessary 
antecedents,  and  intimately  connected  with  the 
results. 

The  belief  that  some  human  beings  could  attain 
the  power  of  conferring  good  or  inflicting  ills  on 
their  fellow-creatures,  and  of  controlling  the  opera- 
tions of  nature,  is  one  of  the  highest  antiquity.  It 
has  appeared  in  every  region  of  the  globe;  and,  from 
its  extensive  prevalence,  it  is  evident  that  the  human 
mind,  especially  in  its  state  of  ignorance  and  bar- 
barism, is  a  soil  well  adapted  for  its  reception  and 
cultivation.  Life  has  so  many  evils,  which  the  un- 
informed mind  can  neither  prevent  nor  avert,  and 
encourages  so  many  hopes,  which  every  age  and 
condition  are  anxious  to  realize,  that  we  can  hardly 
be  astonished  to  find  a  considerable  portion  of  man- 
kind become  the  willing  prey  of  impostors,  who,  as 
we  shall  see,  practised  on  their  credulity  by  threats 
of  evil  and  promises  of  good,  greater  than  the  usual 
course  of  nature  would  dispense.  Even  the  lights 
of  divine  revelation,  and  the  circumstance  of  their 
being  discountenanced  by  both  civil  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal laws,  did  not  prevent  such  frauds  and  absurdities 
from  being  encouraged.  Their  foundation  seems  to 
lie  deep  in  the  heart's  anxiety  about  futurity,  in  its 
impatience  for  good  greater  than  it  enjoys,  and  in 


20  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

its  restless  curiosity  to  penetrate  the  unknown,  and 
to  meddle  witli  the  forbidden. 

Much  time  and  learning  have  been  wasted  in 
attempting  to  depict  the  first  origin  of  medicine. 
Thus  Schulze,  who  was  professor  at  Altorf  in  the 
beginning  of  the  18th  century,  has  traced  it  to  the 
fall  of  man,  showing,  with  great  gravit}^,  what  ob- 
servations were  likely  to  be  made  by  Adam  and  Eve 
on  the  subject  of  their  natural  appetites;  and  Bram- 
billa,  a  surgeon  of  Vienna,  has  asserted  that  Tubal 
Cain  was  the  inventor  of  cauterizing  instruments, 
machines  for  the  reduction  of  fractures,  and  other 
surgical  apparatus,  whence  he  endeavors  to  prove 
that  surgery  is  of  more  ancient  date  than  medicine. 

Medicine,  it  is  evident,  must  have  had  a  very 
early  origin,  for  mankind,  in  the  most  uncivilized 
ages,  would  necessarily  be  exposed  to  a  variety  of 
casualties,  and  would  gradually  learn  the  means  of 
alleviating  the  pain  or  averting  the  consequences  of 
the  more  common  external  injuries.  The  more  or 
less  agreeable  and  salubrious  qualities  of  the  different 
articles  of  food  would  also  cause  them  to  form  for 
themselves  certain  dietetic  maxims  and  rules  for  the 
treatment  of  those  diseases  to  which  thej^  found 
themselves  liable.  Their  materia  medica  would  pro- 
bably, at  first,  consist  of  only  a  few  herbs,  of  which 
they  fancied  they  had  found  the  efficacy  in  internal 
and  external  complaints.  Unacquainted,  however, 
with  the  economy  of  the  human  body,  and  incapa- 
ble, for  the  most  part,  of  tracing  the  progress  of 
disease,  the  more  fatal  internal  disorders  would  be 


PRIEST-PHYSICIANS.  21 

ascribed  to  the  powers  of  sorcery,  or  to  the  displeasure 
of  those  deities  whom  they  had  been  taught  to  fear, 
and  they  would  resort  for  their  cure  to  those  rites 
and  ceremonies  by  which  they  imagined  they  could 
dispel  the  charm  or  appease  the  wrath  of  the  offended 
gods.  Hence  would  arise  various  sujDcrstitious  prac- 
tices which  would  be  handed  down  from  generation 
to  generation.  Such  we  may  imagine  to  have  been 
the  origin  of  the  medical  art,  and  such  is  nearly  its 
condition  at  the  present  period  amongst  the  savages 
of  Africa,  Australasia,  Polynesia,  Sumatra,  &c. 

The  first  individuals  who  raised  themselves  above 
the  vulgar,  made  a  particular  study  of  medicine,  and 
obtained  success  by  practising  it,  were  raised  to  the 
rank  of  gods.     Altars  were  erected  to  them,  and 
the   priests   who   administered   the   duties  became 
physicians  themselves  from  being  the  oracles  of  the 
divinity  whom   the  peo]3le  wished   to  consult;   so 
that  for  a  long  time  the  practice  of  medicine  was  a 
part  of  the  priestcraft,  and  was  taught  by  the  minis- 
ters of  the  altars  with  many  occult  and  mysterious 
ceremonies.     For  a  long  period  there  could  have 
been  no  other  medical  instruction  than  that  of  the 
communication  of  the  knowledge  of  the  mechanical 
means  and  properties  of  remedies  which  had  been 
previously  employed  with   success   in   the   cure  of 
wounds  and  diseases.     The  science  did    not    then 
exist;  there  were  not  even  physicians.     Each  was 
probably  physician  in  his  turn,  and  recommended  to 
him  who  was  suffering  the  remedy  which  he  knew 
to  have  succeeded,  or  whose  virtues  were  attested 
by  tradition.     Herodotus  informs  us  that  even  in 


2  2  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

his  time  the  Babylonians,  Chaldeans,  and  other 
nations  had  no  physicians.  When  any  one  was 
attacked  with  disease  he  was  carried  into  the  public 
street,  and  the  passers-by  who  had  labored  under  a 
similar  affection,  or  had  witnessed  a  similar  case, 
advised  the  individual  to  adopt  such  means  as  their 
judgment  and  memory  might  suggest.  [N'o  one  was 
permitted  to  pass  near  a  sick  person  without  inter- 
rogating him  on  the  nature  of  his  sufferings. 

The  first  writers  on  medicine  trace  its  origin,  in 
common  with  that  of  most  other  branches  of  know- 
ledge, to  the  Egyptians;  but  its  history  is  so  in- 
volved in  fable,  and  so  mixed  with  the  pagan 
mythology,  that  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  their 
knowledge  of  this,  or  of  any  other  branch  of  sci- 
ence. The  medicine  of  the  Indians,  Chaldeans,  Chi- 
nese, Japanese,  &c.,  was  a  mere  collection  of  receipts 
applied  at  hazard  by  men  without  study  and  expe- 
rience, according  to  vulgar,  and  often  superstitious, 
traditions,  as  it  is  even  at  present,  to  a  great  extent, 
in  those  countries. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

Medical  powers  of  Isis  and  of  other  deities — First  books  on  me- 
dicine— Early  works  on  anatomy,  diseases  of  females,  &c. — 
Priest-practitioners,  tlieir  manners  and  customs,  dietetic  rules, 
&c. — Practitioners  of  specialties — Treatment  of  various  dis- 
eases— Medicines  used  by  the  ancient  Egyptians — Description 
of  the  process  of  embalming — Early  aversion  to  dissection — 
Ignorance  of  anatomy,  physiology,  &c. 

The  Egyptians  a23pear  to  have  been  the  first  na- 
tion which  cultivated  medicine.  The  history  of  the 
progress  of  the  art,  during  the  period  prior  to  the 
reign  of  King  Psammetichus,  who  died  about  617 
years  before  the  Christian  era,  is,  however,  wrapped 
in  mythological  obscurity.  To  the  deity  Isis,  the 
wife  and  sister  of  Osiris,  a  peculiar  medical  power 
was  attributed,  and  a  multitude  of  diseases  were 
regarded  as  the  effects  of  her  anger.  She  had  given 
an  unequivocal  proof  of  her  power  in  the  restoration 
of  her  son  Orus  to  life.  The  Egyptians  attributed 
to  her  the  discovery  of  several  remedies,  and  be- 
lieved that  she  possessed  considerable  power  in  me- 
dicine. Even  at  the  time  of  Galen,  the  materia 
medica  contained  several  compound  remedies  which 
bore  her  name.  As  all  diseases  were  supposed  to 
originate  from  her  anger,  the  Greeks  compared  her 
to  Proserpine,  queen  of  the  infernal  regions,  or  to 


24  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

the  redoubtable  Hecate.  In  the  temples  of  Isis  a 
species  of  resin  was  burnt  in  the  morning,  myrrh  at 
noon,  and  in  the  evening  a  composition  termed 
eyphy,  which  was  formed  of  sixteen  drugs,  regard 
being  had  in  its  preparation  to  the  quaternary  num- 
ber, which  was  always  considered  sacred.  After 
these  preparations,  the  sick  were  made  to  sleep  in 
these  temples,  in  order  that  the  oracle  might  reveal 
to  them,  during  sleejD,  the  means  which  ought  to  be 
had  recourse  to  for  their  cure. 

Orus  or  Horus,  the  son  of  Isis — the  Apollo  of  the 
Greeks — was  the  last  Egyptian  king  of  the  mytho- 
logical dynasty  of  the  gods,  and  is  said  to  have  ac- 
quired from  his  mother  the  knowledge  of  diseases 
and  of  their  modes  of  cure.  Independently,  how- 
ever, of  this  family  of  the  gods,  the  Egyptians  re- 
vered Theath,  Thouth  or  Taaut — the  Hermes  Tris- 
megistus  of  the  Greeks — whom  they  regarded  as  the 
inventor  of  arts  and  sciences.  All  ancient  historians 
accord  in  representing  Taaut  as  the  friend  and  con- 
fidant of  Osiris.  He  first  taught  the  Egyptians 
the  use  of  writing,  invented  arithmetic,  geometry, 
astronomy,  and  music ;  gave  laws  to  the  people,  regu- 
lated their  religious  ceremonies,  and  first  cultivated 
the  olive. 

When  the  Egyptians  had  discovered  a  mode  of 
forming  paper  from  the  stalk  of  the  papyrus,  the 
knowledge  of  Taaut  was  described,  engraved  upon 
the  columns  and  collected  in  a  book  entitled  Emhre^ 
or  Scientia  Causalitatis.  This  book,  according  to 
Diodorus,  contained  the  rules  of  medical  science,  to 
which  the  physicians  were  compelled  scrupulously 


EARLY  MEDICAL   WORKS.  25 

to  adhere,  and  comprised  various  additions  made 
by  the  more  immediate  and  celebrated  successors  of 
Taaut  or  Hermes.  When  the  physicians  strictly  con- 
formed to  the  regulations,  they  were  held  free  from 
blame,  should  the  patient  even  die  ;  but  if  they  wan- 
dered from  them  they  were  punished  with  death, 
whatever  miffht  be  the  issue  of  the  disorder.  It  is 
by  no  means  improbable  that  this  book  contained  a 
collection  of  the  semeiological  observations  made  up 
to  that  period,  for  we  are  informed  by  Horapollo  in 
his  HieroglyjyUca^  that  the  priests  or  physicians  re- 
ferred to  it  for  the  purpose  of  predicting  whether 
any  disease  would  have  a  favorable  or  unfavorable 
termination.  Diodorus  gives  us  reason  to  suppose 
that  their  diagnosis  was  principally  formed  on  the 
position  which  the  patient  assumed  in  bed,  a  mode 
of  discrimination,  as  may  readily  be  conceived,  at 
once  nugatory  and  absurd.  The  blind  adherence  to 
the  opinions  and  rules  of  their  predecessors,  and  the 
criminality,  as  it  was  considered,  of  all  innovation — 
w^hilst  they  continued — effectually  prevented  any 
improvement  in  the  science,  or  as  it  might,  at  that 
time,  be  more  properly  styled,  the  art  of  medicine. 

At  the  time  of  lamblicus,  who  lived  A.D.  363,  the 
priests  of  Egypt  showed  forty-two  books  which  they 
attributed  to  Hermes.  Of  these,  according  to  that 
author,  thirty-six  contained  the  history  of  all  human 
knowledge  ;  the  last  six  of  which  treated  of  anatomy, 
of  diseases,  especially  those  of  females,  of  affec- 
tions of  the  eyes,  instruments  of  surgery,  and  medi- 
cines. It  is  probable,  however,  that  several  of  these 
were  of  a  more  modern  date,  as  lamblicus  is  very 


2  6  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

doubtful  regarding  their  authenticity,  and  Galen 
does  not  hesitate  to  declare  them  apocryphal. 
Sprengel  asserts,  and  with  some  degree  of  proba- 
bility, that  several  of  these  works  were  penned 
about  the  time  of  the  existence  of  the  school  of 
Alexandria,  when  alchemy  and  some  of  its  kindred 
branches  had  their  origin,  from  a  wish  to  show  that 
these  chimerical  investigations  were  of  an  ancient 
date,  and  consequently  entitled  to  more  considera- 
tion than  they  might  otherwise  have  received.  The 
number  of  works  attributed  by  some  to  this  Egyp- 
tian deity  is  truly  prodigious.  Seleucus  estimates 
them  at  20,000,  and  Manetho  at  30,000!  Galen, 
however,  attempts  to  reconcile  these  incredible  as- 
sertions by  observing  that  we  should  read  books  or 
dissertations  in  place  of  books  or  volumes. 

Apis,  another  divinity  of  the  Egyptians,  was  also 
regarded  as  the  inventor  of  medicine.  They  like- 
wise adored  as  a  tutelar  genius,  Esmun  or  Schemin, 
the  Pan  of  the  Greeks;  but  greater  influence  was 
attributed  to  Serapis,  whose  most  ancient  temple 
was  at  Memphis,  and  who  was  worshipj^ed  by  both 
Greeks  and  Egyptians.  The  history  of  the  last  dis- 
ease of  Alexander  the  Great  shows  that  Serapis  was 
much  revered  as  a  medical  divinity  at  the  time  of 
that  conqueror. 

In  whatever  way  these  divinities  may  have  first 
attracted  the  adoration  of  the  people,  it  seems  clear 
that  the  priests  from  among  whom  the  ancient 
kings  of  Egypt  were  chosen  were  the  practisers  of 
the  medical  art.  As  diseases  were  considered  to  be 
the  efiects  of  the  anger  of  the  gods,  they  could  not 


PRIES T-PRA CTITIONERS  OF  EGYPT.  27 

be  cured  until  the  wrath  of  these  estimated  power- 
ful beings  was  appeased.  The  awe,  however,  with 
which  the  deities  were  regarded,  and  the  weakness 
of  the  diseased,  required  the  aid  of  mediators  who 
might  implore  pardon  for  them.  In  the  hands  of  the 
priests,  consequently,  the  healing  art  was  nothing 
more  than  an  absurd  worship  paid  to  the  different 
divinities  of  the  country.  They  concealed  the  medi- 
cines which  they  administered  by  the  aid  of  an 
allegorical  language,  and  medicine  was  esteemed  a 
secret,  the  knowledge  of  which  was  only  vouch- 
safed by  the  gods  to  their  favorites.  A  description 
of  the  manners  of  these  priests  and  the  dietetic 
restrictions  which  they  imposed  upon  themselves 
will  throw  some  additional  light  on  the  ars  sanandi 
of  these  remote  ages. 

The  six  books  of  the  works  of  Hermes,  just 
referred  to  as  being  the  part  devoted  to  medicine, 
were  studied  by  the  Pastophori  or  Image-bearers, 
an  inferior  order  of  the  priesthood  on  whom  the 
practice  of  common  medicine  devolved.  The  higher 
branches,  which  required  more  magical  formulse,  as 
well  as  a  greater  knowledge  of  the  virtues  of  drugs, 
were  reserved  for  the  superior  priests.  These  latter, 
the  wise  men  and  magicians  of  whom  Moses  speaks, 
boasted  of  the  power  of  producing  a  multitude  of 
supernatural  effects  and  of  possessing  in  themselves 
alone  all  erudition.  At  the  time  of  Heliodorus, 
who  lived  about  167  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
there  existed,  clothed  in  a  symbolical  language, 
several  works  on  natural  history,  in  which  the 
plants  and   animals  were   designated   by  mystical 


HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE, 


appellations.  Thus  the  ivy  was  called  the  plant  of 
Osiris;  the  vervain,  the  tears  of  Isis;  a  species  of 
lily,  death's  blood ;  a  variety  of  the  artemisia,  the 
heart  of  Bubastis ;  the  saffron,  the  blood  of  Hercules ; 
the  squill,  the  eye  of  Typhon,  &c.  The  more  modern 
fanatics,  and  chiefly  the  alchemists,  eagerly  laid  hold 
of  these  symbolical  names,  in  order  to  attract  more 
consideration  amongst  the  ignorant. 

The  manner  of  living  of  all  orders  of  the  priest- 
hood was  subjected  to  very  severe  rules.  They  were 
especially  obliged  to  attend  to  the  greatest  cleanli- 
ness ;  were  expected  to  wash  themselves  twice  in 
the  day  and  as  often  during  the  night,  and  to  have 
the  hair  cut  every  three  days,  except  in  time  of 
mourning.  It  was  likewise,  according  to  Herodotus, 
with  views  of  cleanliness  that  the  operation  of  cir- 
cumcision was  introduced  amongst  them,  an  opera- 
tion to  which  Pythagoras  himself  was  compelled  to 
submit.  They  subsisted  on  the  produce  of  their 
lands  and  the  offerings  made  to  their  gods.  Their 
nourishment  was  confined  to  the  vegetables  and 
meats  which  mis-ht  be  offered  to  their  deities.  The 
animals  intended  for  sacrifice  were  ceremoniously 
marked  with  a  seal  of  clay.  It  would  seem  that 
this  custom  had  its  chief  origin  in  the  care  which 
it  was  considered  necessary  to  take  in  the  well  dis- 
tinguishing of  the  sound  from  the  unsound  meat. 
It  was,  indeed,  at  an  early  period  remarked  that  the 
diseases  of  the  eyes,  lepra,  and  different  other  cor- 
poreal affections,  frequently  supervened  on  the  im- 
moderate use  of  certain  articles  of  food.  But, 
independently  of  this  salutary  precaution,  certain 


DIET  OF  PRIESTS  AND  PEOPLE.  29 

animals  were  chosen  in  preference  to  others  from 
some  symbolical  signification  attached  to  them  from 
the  most  early  period.  Those  were  sacrificed  by 
preference,  which  had  some  similarity  to  the  genius 
of  evil,  as,  for  example,  red  oxen,  because  Typhon, 
who  murdered  their  favorite  Osiris,  was  of  that 
complexion. 

The  farinaceous  legumina  and  onions  were  espe- 
cially proscribed ;  the  first,  according  to  Herodotus, 
because  they  are  difiicult  of  digestion  and  engender 
flatulence,  or,  as  Plutarch  supposes,  because  they 
afford  too  much  nourishment,  or,  perhaps,  rather 
from  mystical  reasons  which  are  unknown  to  us. 
Onions,  according  to  Plutarch,  were  forbidden  be- 
cause they  excited  thirst.  The  regimen  of  the  peo- 
ple, although  not  so  much  restricted  as  that  of  the 
priests,  was  nevertheless  subjected  to  certain  rules, 
from  which  they  were  not  permitted  to  wander,  and 
which  were  always  intended  for  the  preservation  of 
health.  Even  to  the  kings,  according  to  Diodorus, 
a  fixed  quantity  of  meat  and  drink  was  prescribed, 
beyond  which  it  was  not  permitted  for  them  to  pass. 
On  the  temple  at  Thebes  was  placed  an  inscription 
filled  with  imprecations  against  king  Menes,  who 
first  led  the  people  from  their  simple  and  frugal  life, 
and  introduced  amongst  them  the  luxury  of  the 
table.  Diodorus  informs  us  that  almost  ever^^  func- 
tion, even  the  act  of  generation,  was  regulated,  and 
had  a  time  assigned  for  its  performance. 

The  education  of  the  children  tended  to  fortify 
them  against  fatigue  and  to  accustom  them  to 
frugality.     They  always  ran  about  barefooted,  and 


30  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

almost  wholly  subsisted  on  fruits,  roots,  and  the  pith 
of  the  papyrus.  Until  manhood  the  food  was  never 
suffered  to  exceed  twenty  drachms  a  day,  and  gym- 
nastic exercises  were  proscribed  from  a  belief  that 
they  occasioned  but  a  momentary  vigor.  Each 
Egyptian,  according  to  Herodotus  and  Diodorus, 
was  expected  ever}^  month  to  make  use  of  emetics, 
purgatives,  and  clysters,  for  it  was  imagined  that 
the  majority  of  diseases  originated  from  intem- 
perance and  crudities  in  the  alimentary  apparatus. 
Herodotus  asserts  that  in  his  time  there  was  in 
Egypt  a  particular  physician  for  each  disease ;  one 
occupjnng  himself  with  diseases  of  the  eyes,  a  second 
with  affections  of  the  teeth,  a  third  with  those  of 
the  stomach,  &c. 

As  for  the  rationale  of  their  medicine,  we  have 
received  too  few  data  to  judge  of  it  with  certainty; 
it  seems,  however,  probable  that  diseases  were 
principally  left  to  nature,  and  that  the  Egyptians  con- 
tented themselves  with  promoting  those  evacuations 
which  she  might  endeavor  to  establish.  If  we 
may  credit  Strabo,  they  exposed  those  who  were 
dangerously  ill  in  the  streets,  in  order  that  the 
passers-by  might  afford  them  advice.  Sprengel, 
however,  is  of  opinion  that  this  observation  applies 
more  especially  to  the  Assyrians,  as  the  fact  respect- 
ing them  is  stated  by  many  authors,  whilst  Strabo 
is  the  only  authority  on  which  the  assertion  rests  as 
regards  the  Egyptians.  That  they  were  not  very 
Bkilful  in  the  cure  of  external  diseases  is  evidenced 
by  their  not  having  been  able  to  cure  Darius  of  a 
simple  luxation  of  the  foot  which  he  received  whilst 


ART  OF  EMBALMING.  3 1 

hunting.  The  prophets  predicted  the  changes  and 
termination  of  diseases,  and  the  inferior  priests  or 
pastophori  treated  them  strictly  according  to  the 
rules  laid  down  in  the  hooks  of  Hermes,  and  were 
personally  responsible  for  everything  which  they 
undertook  in  acute  diseases  before  the  fourth  day  of 
their  invasion. 

Very  few  of  the  practical  observations  of  the 
Egyptians  have  come  down  to  us.  Amongst  other 
medicines,  however,  which  they  were  in  the  habit 
of  prescribing,  was  the  squill,  especially  in  the 
environs  of  Pelusium,  in  the  dropsical  affections 
which  were  very  common  in  that  neighborhood.  In 
honor  of  this  plant  they  erected,  according  to  Panus, 
a  temple,  where  it  was  adored  under  the  name  of 
Kpo^iuvoj/.  By  Horapollo  we  are  informed  that  in 
cases  of  cynanche  or  sore  throat  great  use  was  made 
of  a  species  of  adianthum,  or  maiden  hair.  The 
astitrii.,  or  eagle-stone,  a  species  of  oxide  of  iron,  was 
likewise  successfully  employed  against  dropsies  and 
tympanitis.  Horapollo  relates  a  case  to  show  that 
the  dissection  of  rabid  animals  may  occasion  hypo- 
chondriasis or  mania. 

-  Two  arts  were  practised  by  the  Egyptians  which 
have  some  connection  with  medicine,  and  the  per- 
fection of  which  amongst  them  the  lovers  of  the 
marvellous  have  highly  extolled. 

The  first  is  that  of  einhalming.  If  we  are  to  credit 
several  modern  writers,  we  ought  to  give  the  Egyp- 
tians credit  for  considerable  anatomical  acquirements 
from  their  skill  in  this  art ;  but  if  we  carefully  and 
unprejudicedly  inquire  into  the  circumstances,  we 


32  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

shall  find  that  the  mode  in  which  the  operation  was 
performed  was  not  such  as  to  demand  any  of  these 
qualifications,  whilst  there  were  some  feelings  against 
the  dissection  of  the  dead  which  must  efiectually 
have  tended  to  the  retardation  of  anatomical  inves- 
tigations. The  mode  in  which  the  operation  was 
performed  and  the  ceremonies  attending  it  are  thus 
described  by  Herodotus :  As  soon  as  an  individual 
was  dead,  the  persons  employed  for  embalming  him 
repaired  to  the  house  of  his  relatives,  and  showed 
them  different  cofiins  of  painted  wood  of  the  shape 
of  a  mummy.  The  first  or  chief  were  of  very  ex- 
quisite workmanship,  the  second  were  less  beautiful 
and  costly,  and  the  third  were  still  more  moderate. 
--  The  embalming  was  performed  in  the  following 
manner:  The  brain  was  first  drawn  through  the 
nose  by  means  of  an  iron  crotchet,  or  hook,  and 
aromatics  and  spices  were  then  pushed  into  the 
cranium.  The  abdomen  was  opened  by  a  sharp 
Ethiopian  stone ;  the  intestines  were  removed  and 
the  abdominal  cavity  cleaned  out,  and  then  washed 
with  palm  wine,  and  spicy  substances  dissolved  in 
water  poured  into  it.  It  was  subsequently  filled 
with  myrrh,  cassia,  and  other  aromatics,  and  the 
integuments  were  brought  together.  The  body  was 
now  washed  with  a  solution  of  salt,  and  suffered  to 
remain  at  rest  for  seventy  days,  but  not  longer.  At 
the  expiration  of  this  time  it  was  again  washed  and 
covered  everywhere  with  a  gum,  which  the  Egyp- 
tians used  in  the  place  of  size,  and  enveloped  in  a 
linen  cloth.  The  relations  then  took  the  body,  in- 
closed it  in  a  wooden  cradle  modelled  after  its  form, 


ART  OF  EMBALMING.  -^l 

and  deposited  it  in  the  catacombs.  "With  those  of  a 
poorer  class,  they  were  satisfied  with  injecting  liquid 
resin  into  the  abdomen  through  a  tube,  without 
opening  it.  The  body  was  then  treated  with  the 
solution  of  the  salt  as  before,  and,  at  the  expiration 
of  the  seventy  days,  the  resin,  and  the  viscera  along 
with  it,  was  withdrawn,  and  there  remained  nothing 
but  the  skin  and  bones.  The  third  species  of  embalm- 
ing, reserved  for  the  poor,  consisted  in  cleansing  out 
the  dead  body,  and  macerating  it  for  seventy  days 
in  the  solution  of  the  salt. 

Women  of  unusual  beauty,  or  of  high  birth,  were 
not  put  under  the  hands  of  the  embalmers  until 
three  or  four  days  after  their  decease ;  a  precaution 
rendered  necessary,  according  to  Herodotus,  from 
some  of  the  pastophori  having  been  known  to  vio- 
late the  dead  persons  of  such  females.  The  first 
species  of  embalming  cost  a  talent  of  silver,  or  about 
three  hundred  dollars,  and  the  second  twenty  min^e, 
or  about  one  hundred  dollars.  A  holy  functionary, 
termed  by  them  a  scribe,  marked  on  the  left  side 
of  the  body  the  place  where  the  incision  should  be 
made,  when  the  imraschistes.,  or  operator,  made  the 
incision  andhastily  withdrew,  from  a  dread  of  being 
assailed  with  imprecations,  and  even  with  stones,  by 
the  assistants,  so  great  was  their  horror  at  any  one 
who  dared  to  inflict  an  injury,  by  means  of  a  cutting 
instrument,  on  the  remains  of  a  friend.  Diodorus 
afterwards  describes  the  process  of  embalming  nearly 
in  the  same  manner  as  Herodotus,  with  this  slight 
difference,  that  he  makes  mention  of  a  process,  by 
3 


34  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

means  of  which  they  preserved  in  the  dead  body 
the  form  which  the  individual  had  during  life. 

The  conduct  of  the  assistants  towards  the  para- 
schistes  strongly  exemplifies  the  aversion  which  the 
Egyptians  had  for  dissection,  and  it  could  not  con- 
sequently be  expected,  whilst  such  sentiments  pre- 
vailed, that  many  discoveries  would  be  made  relating 
to  the  structure,  position,  and  connections  of  parts  of 
the  body  in  states  of  health  and  of  disease.  More- 
over, the  process  which  was  followed  was  too  rude 
to  contribute  to  enrich  the  science.  Besides,  we  have 
historical  proofs  that  the  Egyptian  priests  were 
ignorant  of  the  first  elements  of  anatomy  and  phys- 
iology. They  believed,  for  example,  that  every 
year  the  weight  of  the  heart  was  increased  by  two 
drachms,  until  the  age  of  fifty,  and  that  afterwards 
it  diminished  in  the  same  proportion;  and  that  a 
small  nerve  or  tendon  had  its  origin  in  the  little 
finger  which  proceeded  to  the  heart,  and  this  was 
the  reason  why  they  dipped  that  finger  in  the  liquor 
of  their  libations. 

In  chemistry  and  in  metallurgy  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians certainly  possessed  a  degree  of  knowledge  which 
is  still  an  inexplicable  enigma  to  our  most  celebrated 
scientists.  They  were  acquainted  with  the  art  of 
applying  silver  of  a  blue  color  to  surfaces,  and  of 
fabricating  emeralds  of  a  prodigious  size.  It  was 
formerly  believed  that  cobalt  was  used  in  these  pre- 
parations, but  Gmelin  has  demonstrated  that  there 
was  none  of  that  metal  in  all  Egypt,  and  that  proba- 
bly they  made  use  of  the  blue  scum  which  swims  on 
the  surface  when  the  hematite  is  melted.     Finally, 


IMPERFE CTION  OF  EGYP TIA N  MEDICINE.        3 5 

it  seems  very  doubtful  whether  even  the  ancient 
Egyptians  had  made  sufficient  progress  in  chemistry 
and  pharmacy  to  have  even  known,  as  Galen  and 
Bergmaan  pretend,  how  to  prepare  plasters  and 
ointments  of  verdigris  and  ceruse. 

Being  possessed  of  but  a  very  small  number  of 
data  regarding  Egyptian  medicine  prior  to  the  600th 
year  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  details  here  pre- 
sented must  necessarily  be  imperfect  and  unsatis- 
factory, but  they  are  sufficient  to  show  that  although 
the  healing  art  was  cultivated  by  the  Egyptians,  it 
never  attained  with  them  any  degree  of  importance. 
Confined  to  the  priests,  forming  an  essential  part  of 
their  divine  worship,  and  not  being  permitted  to  be 
freely  exercised  by  every  one,  its  progress  was  neces- 
sarily insignificant.  ^NTo  scientific  plan,  no  union  of 
observation  with  theory,  formed  the  basis  of  their 
studies,  and  medicine,  therefore,  became  nothing 
more  than  the  art  of  prophesying,  and  was  confined 
to  a  blind  adherence  to  rules  for  a  long  time  adopted. 
The  son  received,  as  a  divine  deposit,  the  knowledge 
of  his  fathers,  and  transmitted  it  to  his  posterity 
without  it  having  undergone  the  least  change. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

Medical  mythology — Orpheus — ^sculapiiis  ;  his  life  and  medical 
opinions— The  sons  of  ^sculapius — First  recorded  operation 
of  bloodletting — Practice  of  medicine  in  the  temples — Votive 
tablets — Early  medicines — First  notions  on  anatomy,  &c. 

The  condition  in  which  we  find  medicine  amongst 
all  the  rude  and  uncivilized  nations  is  absolutely  the 
same  as  that  which  it  originally  presented  in  Greece, 
a  country,  however,  in  which,  at  a  later  period,  the 
human  mind  developed  all  its  resources,  and  where 
the  most  brilliant  discoveries  were  made.  Without 
dwelling  on  the  medical  mythology  of  Orpheus, 
Musffius,  Melampus,  and  Bacis,  who  are  considered 
to  have  been  its  first  founders,  or  the  history  of  the 
miraculous  nature  of  the  healing  powers  of  Apollo, 
Diana,  Ilithyia,  or  Chiron  and  his  disciple  Achil- 
les, or  Aristseus,  we  may  at  once  direct  our  attention 
to  the  most  renowned  of  Chiron's  pupils,  and  to  one 
who  is  deserving  of  the  most  conspicuous  place  in 
the  history  of  medicine — Asclepius  or  ^sculapius. 

Pausanias  has  transmitted  to  us  several  popular 
traditions  respecting  the  place  of  his  birth.  Phleg- 
yas,  king  of  Thessaly,  had  a  daughter  named  Coro- 
nis,  who  became  pregnant  by  Apollo.  That  prince 
having  invaded  Peloponnesus  and  destroyed  a  part 


TRADITIONAR  V  HISTOR  V  OF  ^SCULAPIUS.       3  7 

of  the  inhabitants  of  the  peninsula,  took  his  daugh- 
ter along  with  him.  Coronis  was  delivered  clandes- 
tinely, and  her  son  was  left  on  Mount  Myrtion.  The 
infant  was  suckled  by  a  goat  and  guarded  by  the  dog 
of  a  shepherd  called  Aresthanas.  The  goatherd,  ob- 
servincf  that  his  doo;  as  well  as  o-oat  was  missins;,  went 
in  search  of  it,  and  discovered  them  with  the  infant, 
which  was  surrounded  by  an  areola  of  light.  Ac- 
cording to  another  tradition,  says  Pausanias,  Coro- 
nis, when  pregnant  with  ^sculapius,  was  too  fami- 
liar with  Ischys,  when  Apollo  killed  her  for  her 
perfidy,  but  at  the  instant  when  the  body,  already 
placed  upon  the  pile,  was  about  to  become  a  prey  to 
the  flames.  Mercury  drew  from  it  the  infant  still 
living,  ^sculapius,  like  the  greater  part  of  the 
young  heroes  of  his  time,  was  instructed  by  the 
Centaur  Chiron  in  all  the  arts,  and  especially  in  that 
of  curing  external  diseases.  In  process  of  time  he 
acquired  so  great  a  dexterity  in  the  treatment  of 
those  affections  that  he  obtained  the  pre-eminence 
over  all  his  companions  on  the  expedition  of  the 
Argonauts. 

Several  ancient  writers  have  described  to  us  in 
what  his  science  consisted.  One  passage  of  Plato  is 
especially  deserving  of  attention.  That  philosopher 
begins  by  observing  that  medicine  cannot  exist 
without  luxury,  and  that  man,  in  a  state  of  nature, 
has  need  only  of  physicians  for  wounds  and  epi- 
demics to  which  he  may  be  exposed ;  that  conse- 
quently the  medicine  of  ^sculapius  must  have  been 
extremely  simple,  and  that  experience  must  have 
taught  him  the  knowledge  of  some^useful  remedies, 


38  HIS  TON  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

especially  in  external  affections.  At  that  time  we 
are  told  they  had  no  idea  either  of  catarrhs  or  of  the 
gout,  nor  of  flatulency,  nor,  according  to  him,  were 
they  acquainted  with  dietetics  or  gymnastics.  The 
skill  of  ^sculapius  was,  therefore,  nearly  confined  to 
the  dressing  and  healing  of  wounds  with  herbs 
proper  for  arresting  hemorrhage  and  assuaging  pain. 
Plutarch  asserts  that  such  comprised  the  whole  of 
the  ancient  Grecian  medicine.  Pindar  describes 
nearly  in  the  same  manner  the  method  pursued  by 
^sculapius.  He  cured,  we  are  told,  persons  labor- 
ing under  old  ulcers,  those  who  had  been  wounded, 
or  who  had  been  indisposed  from  heat  or  cold.  He 
employed,  for  the  restoration  of  health,  agreeable 
songs,  drinks,  and  external  medicines  or  incisions. 
If,  therefore,  we  except  some  simple  remedies  ob- 
tained from  the  vegetable  kingdom,  ^sculapius  had 
almost  always  recourse  to  prayer  and  invocation  to 
the  gods,  a  method  of  cure,  as  has  alreadj^  been 
observed,  the  most  ancient  of  all.  Pursuing  such  a 
plan,  however,  it  seems  absurd  to  find  the  author  of 
an  introduction  to  the  works  of  Galen,  ranking  the 
medical  skill  of  ^sculapius  at  so  high  a  standard. 
"  Before  ^sculapius,"  observes  that  writer,  "  medi- 
cine was  nothing  but  blind  empiricism,  and  was 
confined  to  the  external  application  of  plants;  but 
that  hero  knew  how  to  perfect  and  form  it  into  a 
divine  art." 

Various  accounts  have  been  given  by  authors 
respecting  the  death  of  ^sculapius.  Diodorus  Si- 
culus  asserts  that  he  restored  so  many  people  to  life, 
that  Pluto  beseeched  Jupiter  to  destroy  a  man  who 


THE  SONS  OF  ^SCULAPIUS.  39 

SO  materially  injured  the  population  of  his  empire. 
Jupiter,  therefore,  hurled  his  thunder  at  ^sculapius, 
and  Apollo  revenged  the  death  of  his  son,  hy  de- 
stroying the  Cyclops  who  forged  the  bolts.  Sextus 
Empiricus  repeats  this  story  in  nearty  the  same 
words,  and  almost  all  the  writers  of  Greece  follow 
his  example.  Heraclitus,  a  more  modern  writer, 
explains  his  death  in  a  more  natural  manner ;  being 
occasioned,  according  to  him,  by  a  violent  inflamma- 
tion, the  seat  of  which  Suidas  places  in  the  chest.-' 

The  sons  of  ^sculapius  also  enjoy  a  conspicuous 
place  in  the  history  of  the  healing  art ;  they  are  con- 
sidered as  the  fathers  of  surgery.  Mach  aox  and  Pod  a- 
LiRius — so  they  were  called — ^were  as  skilful  in  the 
sciences  and  in  eloquence  as  in  the  healing  art.  The 
two  brothers  were  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  where  they 
distinguished  themselves  so  much  by  their  valor  that 
Homer  always  ranks  them  amongst  the  chief  Greek 
heroes.  They  lived  together  in  the  most  perfect 
union,  attending  jointly  on  the  wounded,  and  they 
acquired  so  great  a  reputation  amongst  their  com- 
panions that  their  presence  in  battle  was  dispensed 
with,  and  they  were  not  expected  to  take  part  in  the 
other  fatio-ues  of  war.  That  internal  medicine  was 
in  a  very  rude  state  is  evidenced  by  the  observations 
of  Homer,  that  ^Nestor,  when  Machaon  was  wounded 
at  the  siege  of  Troy,  ordered  him  Pramnian  wine, 

*  ^sciilapiiis  is  always  painted  with  a  staff,  because  the  sick 
have  need  of  a  support ;  and  the  serpent  entwined  round  it  is  the 
sjmibol  of  wisdom.  The  figures  of  the  sons  of  ^sculapius  form, 
the  supporters  to  the  arms  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  of 
London. 


40  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

with  cheese,  onions,  and  meal,  as  Pope  has  correctly 
rendered  it,  with  the  exception  of  omitting  the 
onions : — 

"The  nymph  of  form  divine, 


Pours  a  large  potion  of  the  Pramnian  wine, 
With  goat's  milk  cheese  a  flavorous  taste  bestows, 
And  last  with  flour  the  smiling  surface  strows. 
This  for  the  wounded  prince  the  dame  prepares." 

Yilloison  in  his  Scholia  considers  that  these  sub- 
stances presented  to  Machaon, — "the  wounded  off- 
spring of  the  healing  god," — were  considered  less  as 
remedies  than  as  refreshments  necessary  in  conse- 
quence of  his  fatigue ;  and  a  nearly  similar  observa- 
tion is  made  by  Eustathius  in  his  commentaries  on 
the  works  of  Homer. 

Neither  Machaon  nor  Podalirius  seems  to  have 
possessed  the  kingdom  of  their  father,  after  the  end 
of  the  Trojan  war.  Machaon  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  days  in  Messenia  near  the  sage  JSTestor;  he  was 
killed  by  Eurypylas,  the  son  of  Telephus,  and  his 
bones  were  preserved  as  sacred  deposits.  Eurypylus 
himself  was  afterwards  wounded,  and  the  surgical 
treatment  of  his  case  is  thus  described  by  Homer : — 

"Patroclus  cut  the  forky  steel  away. 
When  in  his  hand  a  bitter  root  he  bruised  ; 
The  wound  he  washed,  the  styptic  juice  infused. 
The  closing  flesh  that  instant  ceased  to  glow, 
The  wound  to  torture,  and  the  blood  to  flow." 

{Iliad,  Book  XL) 

The  sons  of  Machaon — Alexanor,  Sphyrus,  Polemo- 
CRATES,  GoRGASUS,  and  XicoMACHUs — also  practised 
medicine.     On  the  return  of  Podalirius  from  Troy, 


MEDICAL  SKILL   OF  PODALIRIUS.  41 

a  tempest  cast  him  on  the  coast  of  the  Isle  of  Scyros, 
where  he  landed,  however,  safe  and  sound.  He 
wandered  alone  in  the  peninsula  of  Caria,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  this  island,  until  a  shepherd  showed 
him  hospitality  and  took  him  to  King  Damootas. 
At  the  court  of  that  prince  he  soon  gave  proofs  of 
his  medical  skill  by  curing  Syrna,  his  daughter,  of 
the  eiFects  of  a  fall  from  a  roof.  He  bled  her  in 
both  arms,  when  her  life  was  despaired  of,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  restoring  her  to  health.  Damoetas,  agreea- 
bly surprised  at  the  fortunate  issue  of  an  operation 
which  was  then  rarely  practised,  consented  to  the 
marriage  of  Podalirius  with  Syrna,  and  gave  him 
the  whole  of  the  peninsula  of  Caria.  Here  Poda- 
lirius founded,  in  honor  of  his  wife,  the  town  of 
Syrna,  and  likewise  built  another  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  the  shepherd  who  had  been  the  first 
cause  of  his  good  fortune.  This  is  the  first  instance 
Avhich  we  have  upon  record  of  the  performance  of 
l)loodletting,  an  o^^eration  regarding  the  origin  of 
which  we  know  nothing  certain. 

The  life  of  Podalirius  is  related  differently  in 
another  place.  Lycophron  asserts  that  he  was  assas- 
sinated on  the  coast  of  Ausonia,  in  the  country  of 
the  Dauni,  v/ho  adored  him  under  the  name  of  fdfjcov 
azfffrvjj.  These  people  bathed  in  the  river  Althenus, 
and  listened,  whilst  lying  under  hides,  to  the  infalli- 
ble oracles  of  the  god  of  medicine.  Strabo  remarks, 
also,  that  the  tomb  of  Podalirius  might  be  seen  at  a 
hundred  stadia  from  the  sea,  in  the  country  of  the 
Dauni,  the  capital  of  which,  Luceria,  exists  at'  the 
present  day  in  the  Capitanata  at  the  bottom  of  the 


42  HISTORY  OF  MEDICIXE. 

Gulf  of  Maufredonia,  and  he  adds  that  the  waters 
of  the  river  Altheiuis  (at  the  present  day  called 
Candelaro)  cured  all  the  diseases  of  cattle. 

Although  Clemens  Alexandrinus  dates  the  origin 
of  the  worship  of  ^sculapius  at  fifty-three  years  be- 
fore the  destruction  of  Troy,  nothing  is  to  be  found 
in  the  poetry  of  Homer  whieli  can  lead  us  to  suspect 
that  this  hero  had  been  classed  amongst  the  gods. 
Hesiod  would  also  unquestionably  have  admitted 
him  into  the  Theogony,  if  at  liis  time  they  had 
paid  him  divine  honors.  Pindar,  indeed,  far  from 
regarding  him  as  a  god.  reproaches  him.  on  the 
contrary,  with  being  avaricious,  although  he  calls 
him  the  hero  and  vanrjuislier  of  a  great  number  of 
diseases : — 

"  Those  whom  nature  made  to  feel 
Con-odiug  ulcers  gna\r  the  frame  ; 
Or  stones  far  hurrd,  or  glittering  steel, 
All  to  the  great  physician  came. 
By  summer's  heat  or  winter's  cold 
Oppress' d,  of  him  they  sought  relief. 
Each  deadly  pang  his  skill  controll'd, 
And  found  a  balm  for  every  grief. 
On  some  the  force  of  charmed  strains  he  tried, 
To  some  the  medicated  draught  applied  : 
Some  limbs  he  placed  the  amulets  around  ; 
Some  from  the  trunk  he  cut,  and  made  the  patient  sound. 
But  wisdom  yields  to  sordid  gain  : 
Hands  "which  the  golden  bribes  contain 
Are  bound  by  them  alone.'' 

{Third  Pyifdan  Ode.) 

Hygein — from  whence  comes  hygiene,  or  the  art  of 
preserving  health — the  pretended  sister  of  ^scula- 
pius.  and  also  Hercules,  were  both  worshipped  by  the 
Greeks.     Epilepsy  was  called  the  disease  of  Hercules, 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE  IN  THE  TEMPLES.      43 

after  the  latter,  as  it  was  believed  that  he  had  been 
aiFected  with  it.  Several  plants,  as  the  Teucrium 
Chamsepitjs  ("  Tencer,"  Hercules),  take  their  names 
from  him,  and  there  is  also  an  entire  genus  called 
Heracleum. 

We  need  not  attempt  to  describe  the  various  tem- 
ples erected  to  the  different  deities  in  Greece,  but 
rather  refer  briefly  to  the  manner  in  which  medicine 
was  practised  in  those  temples.  The  mode  there 
adopted  clearly  proves  that  all  diseases  were  regarded 
as  the  effects  of  the  anger  of  heaven  ;  and  the  gods 
alone  could  consequently  cure  them.  It  was  in  those 
sacred  places  that  ^Esculapius  gave  the  most  ostensi- 
ble marks  of  his  power.  The  ceremonies  and  reli- 
gious customs  by  means  of  which  they  endeavored  to 
obtain,  as  a  gift  from  heaven,  the  restoration  of  the 
sick,  varied  at  different  periods.  They  were  almost 
all,  however,  especially  directed,  in  acute  and  simple 
diseases,  to  the  excitement  of  the  imagination  and  to 
the  re-establishment  of  the  health  by  a  very  strict  re- 
gimen. The  entrance  to  the  temples  of  ^sculapius 
was  interdicted  to  all  those  who  had  not  previously 
undergone  purification.  These  preliminary  processes 
necessarily  contributed  to  excite  hope  in  the  minds 
of  the  sick,  to  inspire  them  with  consoling  ideas  re- 
specting the  future,  as  well  as  to  give  them  full  con- 
fidence in  the  important  revelations  about  to  be  made 
to  them.  "When  permitted  to  appear  before  the  idol, 
and  to  present  him  their  offerings,  they  found  him 
surrounded  with  so  ,many  mysterious  symbols,  and 
witnessed  the  performance  of  so  many  imposing 
ceremonies,  that   their   strained  imagination  made 


44  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

^  them  regard  as  infallible  every  oracle  which  ema- 
nated from  the  mouth  of  the  god. 

Most  of  the  temples  too  were  situated  in  very 
salubrious  places,  and  had  either  in  their  interior  or 
in  the  environs  mineral  and  thermal  springs.  It  is 
therefore  easy  to  conceive  that  the  purity  of  the 
atmosphere  and  the  change  which  the  sick  experi- 
enced in  their  pilgrimages  to  consult  the  oracle  had 
a  powerful  influence  on  their  cure.  The  preliminary 
ceremonies,  however,  to  which  they  were  subjected, 
and  the  sacrifices  which  were  required  of  them,  con- 
tributed still  more  effectually  to  exalt  their  imagi- 
nation and  to  strengthen  their  hope.  In  the  first 
instance  the  most  rigorous  abstinence  was  enjoined. 
They  were  obliged  to  fast  for  several  days  before 
they  could  approach  the  cave  of  Charonium.  At  Oro- 
pus,  in  Attica,  it  was  required  of  them  before  con- 
sulting the  oracle  of  Amphiaraus,  to  abstain  from 
wine  for  three  days  and  from  every  kind  of  nourish- 
ment for  twenty-four  hours.  At  Pergamus  this  absti- 
nence from  wine  was  equally  necessary  in  order  that 
the  ether  of  the  soul,  as  Philostratus  expresses  it, 
might  not  be  sullied  with  that  liquor. 

The  priests  did  not  work  less  on  the  minds  of  the 
sick  by  the  wonders  which  they  recited  to  them,  as 
they  led  them  through  all  the  avenues  of  the  temple, 
explaining  to  them,  in  considerable  detail  and  with 
every  sort  of  mystical  expression,  the  miracles  which 
the  god  had  operated  on  other  persons  whose  ofifer- 
ings  and  votive  inscriptions  they  preserved.  It  will 
be  readily  conceived  that  these  ceremonies  made  a 
deep  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  sick,  especially 


MYSTICAL  CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  SICK.  45 

as  the  priests,  in  relating  to  them  so  many  histories  of 
extraordinary  cures,  had  the  art  of  dwelling  particu- 
larly on  those  diseases  which  had  some  relationship  to 
theirs.  After  these  promenades  in  the  interior  of 
the  temples,  sacrifices  were  offered  to  the  divinity. 
These  commonly  consisted  of  a  ram,  the  skin  of  the 
animal  being  reserved  for  another  use  ;  but  frequently 
also  a  cock  or  hen  was  killed  in  his  honor.  At  Gy- 
rene a  goat  was  offered  to  him,  a  custom  which  was 
not  observed  at  Epidaurus,  and  at  Tithorea  all  kinds 
of  animals  were  sacrificed  except  goats.  The  sacri- 
fice was  accompanied  with  fervent  prayers  to  obtain 
the  revelation.  Pliny  relates  that  no  offering  could 
be  made  without  prayers,  but  that,  as  some  of  the 
principal  names  of  the  divinity  might  be  forgotten, 
the  priest  read  or  chanted  the  hymn,  and  the  indi- 
vidual who  presented  the  offering  repeated  it  in  a 
high  voice.  The  patients  were  also  obliged  to  bathe 
before  being  admitted  to  hear  the  oracle,  a  custom 
to  which  Euripides  alludes : — 

"  The  law  ordain' d  in  reverence  we  must  hold. 
First  I  would  cleanse  them  with  ablutions  pure  ; 
All  man's  pollutions  doth  the  salt  sea  cleanse." 

(.IpMgenia  in  Tcmris.) 

The  Plutus  of  Aristophanes  was  also  washed  by  a 
slave  with  sea-water  before  entering  the  sanctuary. 
The  baths  were  always  accompanied  with  frictions 
and  other  manipulations  which  produced  surprising 
effects  on  those  whose  nervous  sj-stems  were  delicate. 
Anointing,  according  to  Aristides  and  others,  was 
also  employed  on  coming  out  of  the  bath.  The  sick 
were  almost  always  subjected  to  fumigations  before 


46  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

receiving  the  answers  of  the  oracle :  they  were  after- 
wards prepared  by  prayers,  and  slept  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  temple  on  the  skin  of  the  ram  which 
they  had  offered  up,  or  b}^  the  side  of  the  statue  on 
a  bed,  awaiting  the  appearance  of  the  god  of  health. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  under  such  circumstances 
they  fancied  they  obtained  the  revelation  of  future 
events.  In  their  dreams,  we  are  told,  they  saw 
^sculapius  or  some  other  divinity  appear  to  them 
and  indicate  the  means  which  they  ought  to  use  for 
their  cure.  "When  the  dreams  transmitted  by  the 
god  are  dissipated,"  says  lamblicus,  "we  hear  an 
interrupted  voice  telling  us  what  we  shall  do.  Fre- 
quently the  voice  strikes  our  ears  when  in  an  inter- 
mediate *  condition  between  sleeping  and  waking. 
Some  patients  are  enveloped  in  an  immaterial  spirit, 
which  their  eyes  cannot  perceive,  but  which  im- 
pinges upon  some  other  sense.  ]^ot  unfrequently  a 
mild  and  resplendent  light  spreads  around,  obliging 
them  to  keep  the  eyes  half  shut,"  &c.  Sometimes  the 
god  of  health  presented  himself  accompanied  with 
other  divinities  or  appeared  under  different  forms. 
Venus  appeared  in  the  shape  of  a  dove  to  the  cele- 
brated Aspasia,  and  cured  her  of  an  ulcer  which 
she  had  on  the  chin.  All  these  visions,  however,  it 
is  probable  wxre  only  so  many  evidences  of  the  jug- 
glery of  the  priests. 

The  medicines  recommended  in  the  dreams  were 
generally  of  a  kind  to  do  neither  good  nor  harm, 
such  as,  for  example,  gentle  purgatives  prepared  with 
stewed  Corinth  raisins,  or  food  easy  of  digestion,  or 


HEROIC  TREATMENT  OF  ARISTIDES.  47 

fasting,  baths,  and  mystical  ceremonies.  Occasion- 
ally, however,  remedies  so  powerful  and  advice  so 
absurd  were  recommended,  that  it  required  a  person 
to  be  wholly  blinded  by  superstition  to  make  use  of 
them.  Gypsum  and  hemlock  were  prescribed  to 
Aristides,  who  had  become  dropsical  from  weak- 
ness produced  by  the  repeated  emetics  which  ^scu- 
lapius  had  ordered  him.  He  was  recommended  to 
alternate  their  employment  with  that  of  bloodletting, 
and  once  the  god  prescribed  that  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds  of  blood  should  be  abstracted.  Ad- 
vice so  inconsistent  with  good  sense  might  have 
led  him  back  to  reason  had  he  not  been  imbued 
with  the  most  ridiculous  prejudices,  and  if  an  ab- 
surd credulity  had  not  formed  the  basis  of  his  cha- 
racter. 

When  the  patient  died,  the  fatal  event  was  attri- 
buted to  his  want  of  confidence  or  af  obedience ;  at 
least  such  was  the  excuse  offered  by  Apollonius  in 
the  name  of  ^sculapius  on  the  occasion  of  the 
death  of  a  dropsical  patient,  and  of  another  indivi- 
dual whose  eye  had  been  torn  out.  The  interpreta- 
tion of  the  dreams  was  the  province  of  the  priests, 
and  sometimes  of  the  guardians  of  the  temple. 
These  guardians  dwelt  in  the  vicinity  of  the  edi- 
fice. At  a  more  recent  period  orators,  sophists,  and 
philosophers  might  be  met  with  in  the  avenues  and 
peristyle  of  the  temples,  with  whom  the  sick  could 
discourse,  and  who  assisted  the  priests  in  explaining 
the  dreams.  Aristides  speaks  of  his  learned  confer- 
ences with  the  sophists  in  the  peristyle  of  the  tem- 
ple of  -^sculapius  at  Pergamus,  and  Philostratus 


48  HIS  TO  R  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

cites  similar  examples.  Frequently  there  were  at 
the  side  of  the  temples  gymnasia,  where  persons 
lahoring  under  chronic  diseases  recovered  their 
strength  by  the  use  of  gymnastics,  and  of  baths 
and  unctions. 

When  the  patients  were  cured,  they  returned  to 
give  thanks  to  the  god,  and  to  carry  him  ofterings ; 
they  made  also  presents  to  the  priests,  and  gave 
some  ornament  for  the  use  of  the  temple.  In  that 
of  Amphiaraus  the  custom  was  to  throw  pieces  of 
gold  and  silver  into  the  holy  wells,  and  occasionally 
the  sick,  after  their  cure,  had  modelled  in  ivory, 
gold,  silver,  or  other  metal,  the  part  which  had 
been  the  seat  of  the  affection,  species  of  offerings 
which  were  called  d^a^T^^ara,  and  a  number  of  which 
were  preserved  in  the  temples. 

Gruter,  in  a  work  entitled  De  incrementis  art  is 
medicce  j^er  expositionem  cegrotorum  in  vias  imhlicas  et 
temjyla,  published  at  Leipsic,  in  1749,  has  given  a 
copy  of  several  votive  tablets  discovered  in  the  Isle 
of  the  Tiber,  of  which  the  following  is  a  transla- 
tion: ""Within  these  few  days  a  certain  person 
named  Gains,  who  was  blind,  learnt  from  the  oracle 
that  he  ought  to  repair  to  the  altar,  offer  up  his 
prayers,  traverse  the  temple  from  right  to  left,  place 
his  five  fingers  on  the  altar,  raise  his  hand,  and  place 
it  over  his  eyes.  He  did  so,  and  immediately  re- 
covered his  sight  in  the  presence  and  amidst  the 
acclamations  of  the  people.  These  signs  of  the  om- 
nipotence of  the  god  were  manifested  in  the  reign 
of  Antoninus."  Again,  "A  blind  soldier  named 
Valerius  Aper,  having  consulted  the  oracle,  received 


VOTIVE  TABLETS,  49 

for  answer  that  he  ought  to  mix  the  blood  of  a  white 
cock  with  honey  and  make  an  ointment  to  rub  the 
eye  with  for  three  days.  He  recovered  his  sight, 
and  returned  thanks  to  the  god  in  presence  of  the 
people."  Again,  "Julian  seemed  lost  without  re- 
source from  a  spitting  of  blood.  The  god  ordered 
him  to  take  on  the  altar  some  pine-apple  seeds,  to 
mix  them  with  honey,  and  to  eat  this  preparation 
for  three  days.  He  was  saved,  and  returned  thanks 
to  the  god  in  presence  of  the  people." 

There  is  one  circumstance  which  not  a  little  con- 
tributed to  confirm  to  the  priests  the  exclusive 
exercise  of  medicine.  As  soon  as  an  important 
remedy  was  discovered,  the  mode  of  preparing  it 
was  written  on  the  gates  and  columns  of  the  temple 
of  ^sculapius.  Those  who  invented  surgical  instru- 
ments deposited  them  also  in  the  temples  of  the  god 
of  medicine.  Thus,  Erisistratus,  according  to  Coelius 
Aurelianus,  presented  one  to  the  temple  at  Delphi, 
intended  for  extracting  teeth.  At  Cos  the  priests  of 
.^sculapius  appear  at  a  very  early  period  to  have  had 
in  view  the  assistance  of  nature,  and  thus  to  cause 
her  to  develop  her  energies.  The  Proenotiones  Coacce^ 
which  are  usually  ranged  amongst  the  writings  of 
Hippocrates,  exhibit  a  proof  of  this.  By  some  au- 
thors, indeed,  it  has  been  asserted  that  the  works  of 
Hippocrates  were  in  a  great  measure  composed  from 
the  votive  tablets  preserved  in  the  temple  at  Cos. 
The  remembrance  of  the  benefits  of  ^sculapius  was 
perpetuated  by  the  institution  of  feasts,  which  were 
celebrated  with  much  solemnity  at  Epidaurus,  An- 
cyra,  Pergamus,  and  Cos,  and  at  which  the  greater 
4 


50  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor 
congregated  at  certain  periods. 

The  descendants  of  ^sculapius  dwelt,  some  in 
Peloponnesus,  and  others  in  the  island  of  Cos.  They 
transmitted  to  their  children  the  medical  knowledge 
which  they  had  inherited  from  their  ancestor,  with- 
out divulging  the  secret  to  any  stranger.  The  family 
of  ^sculapius  consequently  formed,  like  the  priests 
of  Egypt,  a  particular  caste,  professing  the  practice 
of  medicine  and  the  mysterious  worship  of  its 
founder.  One  of  its  most  ancient  laws  expressly 
says,  "Sacred  things  can  only  be  revealed  to  the 
elect,  and  ought  not  to  be  confided  to  the  profane 
until  they  are  initiated  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
science."  All  these  who  were  so  initiated  were 
compelled  by  the  Asclepiades  to  swear  according  to 
the  statutes  of  the  order  of  Apollo,  ^sculapius, 
Hygeia,  Panacea,  and  of  all  other  gods  and  god- 
desses, not  to  profane  the  mysteries,  and  only  to 
divulge  them  to  the  children  of  their  masters,  or  to 
those  who  would  bind  themselves  by  the  same  oath. 
Galen  asserts  that  medical  knowledge  was  originally 
hereditary,  and  that  the  parents  transmitted  it  to  the 
children  as  a  family  prerogative ;  but  that  afterwards 
they  relaxed  and  communicated  it  to  strangers  after 
their  initiation,  and  it  consequently  became  less 
exclusive  property.  The  theurgic  physicians  of  the 
school  of  Alexandria  afterwards  restored  this  old 
habit,  in  order,  by  the  obligation  of  a  religious 
silence,  to  excite  more  consideration  to  their  super- 
stitious practices.  The  Asclepiades  wholly  neglected 
two  essential  parts  of  the  healing  art,  dietetics  and 


IMPEDIMENTS  TO  ANATOMICAL  STUDY.         51 

anatomy.  Plato  asserts  that  the  former  was  not  culti- 
vated before  the  time  of  Hekodicus,  of  Selybria,  who 
lived  396  years  before  Christ,  and  Hippocrates  con- 
firms the  assertion. 

Anatomy  could  not  flourish  in  Grreece,  because 
they  condemned  and  regarded  as  a  crime  worthy  of 
an  exemplary  punishment  all  conduct  towards  the 
dead  which  was  contrary  to  the  popular  prejudices. 
These  prejudices  had  their  source  in  the  opinion  for 
a  long  time  entertained  that  the  soul,  when  freed 
from  its  material  covering,  was  obliged  to  wander 
on  the  banks  of  Styx  until  the  body  was  consigned 
to  earth,  or  consumed  by  the  flames ;  hence  the 
eagerness  with  which  sepulture  was  performed  on 
the  dead  to  insure  the  rest  of  their  souls,  and  the 
duty  imposed  upon  all  travellers  of  covering  with 
earth  the  dead  bodies  which  they  might  meet  with, 
as  well  as  the  religious  respect  entertained  for  the 
tombs,  and  the  severe  punishments  inflicted  on  those 
who  profaned  them  ;  and,  finally,  the  utility  of 
imploring  the  clemency  of  the  gods  in  favor  of  those 
who  had  perished  in  foreign  countries  or  in  fleets,  and 
to  whom  sepulture  could  not  be  given.  Sacrifices 
and  libations  were  made  ;  the  dead  were  loudly  in- 
voked by  name,  and  monuments  erected  to  them, 
for  which  they  had  frequently  as  much  respect  as 
for  the  graves  themselves.  At  Athens  a  speedy 
burial  of  the  dead  was  esteemed  the  most  sacred  of 
all  duties,  and  the  transgressor  of  the  laws  was 
severely  punished. 

The  attention  of  the  Greeks  to  the  bodies  of  their 
warriors  who  had  died  in  battle  went  so  far,  that 


5  2  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

six  officers,  who  had  gained  a  brilliant  victory  at 
Arginusge  over  the  Lacedsemonians,  were  sentenced 
to  death  because  they  had  not  collected  with  suffi- 
cient care  the  dead  bodies  which  had  fallen  into  the 
sea.  At  the  time  even  of  the  war  of  Troy,  the  two 
armies,  at  the  prayer  of  Priam,  suspended  hostilities 
until  they  had  burnt  the  dead  : — 

"  Next,  O,  ye  chiefs  !  we  ask  a  truce  to  burn 
Our  slaughter'd  heroes,  and  their  bones  inurn, 
That  done,  once  more  the  fate  of  war  be  tried, 
And  whose  the  conquest,  mighty  Jove,  decide." 

After  each  battle  the  first  duty  of  the  conqueror 
was  to  inter  the  dead  bodies  of  the  enemy.  The  fear 
of  a  fate  similar  to  that  of  the  heroes  of  Arginusse 
prevented  Chabrias  from  prosecuting  the  victory 
which  he  obtained  at  ISTaxos  over  the  Spartans,  and 
he  occupied  himself  in  burying  those  warriors  who 
had  fallen  during  the  action. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  Greeks  had 
some  notions  of  osteology,  or  the  description  of  the 
bones,  and  syndesmology,  or  the  description  of  the 
ligaments,  suggested  by  the  treatment  of  luxations, 
fractures,  and  other  diseases  of  the  bones ;  but  the 
extent  of  these  notions  will  be  more  particularly 
detailed  in  tracing  the  history  of  Hippocrates. 


CHAPTER  TV. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  ROMANS  TO  THE  TIME  OF  CATO  THE 
CENSOR. 

Their  early  knowledge  derived  from  the  Greeks — Establishment 
of  medicinge  or  shops  by  the  freedmen — Medical  practitioners 
exempted  from  banishment — Archagathus,  the  executioner — 
Porcius  Cato,  censor  and  physician. 

Of  the  medicine  of  the  Romans  up  to  the  time  of 
Cato,  or  prior  to  the  150th  year  before  Christ,  but 
little  need  be  said,  as  their  manners  and  customs 
connected  with  the  healing  art  so  nearly  resembled 
those  of  the  Greeks,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  Strabo 
affirms,  "  all  that  they  know  they  owe  to  the  Greeks, 
without  having  made  the  least  additions  themselves, 
and  whenever  any  hiatus  is  observable,  it  need  not 
be  expected  to  be  filled  up  by  them ;  even  all  their 
technical  expressions  are  of  Greek  origin."  Their 
mythology,  both  general  and  medical,  resembled  that 
of  Greece,  modified  according  to  the  difi*erent  char- 
acters of  the  people ;  and,  the  more  their  relations 
with  this  nation  multiplied  and  luxury  made  pro- 
gress amongst  them,  the  more  physicians  were  ob- 
served to  establish  themselves  in  the  capital  of  the 
world.  The  Greek  physicians  who  first  settled  there 
were  all  keepers  of  baths,  except  a  small  number  of 
philosophers  who  were  anxious  for  the  improvement 


5  4  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

of  the  theory  of  medicine,  by  the  introduction  of 
the  dialectic  or  logical  method. 

The  majority  of  these  adventurers  were  slaves, 
whom  their  masters,  incapable  at  first  of  appreci- 
ating the  advantage  of  the  sciences  and  afterwards 
enervated  by  the  luxury  of  the  Greeks,  frequently 
sold  or  freed,  after  having  made  them  considerable 
presents,  when  they  had  received  from  them  any 
•eminent  services.  These  freedmen  established  shops 
which  the  Romans  called  medicince,  and  where  they 
sold  medicines  and  exercised  their  art.  Other  phy- 
sicians, however,  who  came  to  Rome  under  more 
favorable  circumstances,  enjoyed  those  advantages 
and  privileges  which  so  important  an  art  as  that  of 
medicine  has  a  right  to  expect  from  polished  nations. 
It  would  even  seem  that  the  mid  wives,  to  whom 
Pliny  attributes  the  prerogatives  of  nobility,  and  one 
of  whom  had  the  title  o^  latroncea^  regionis  sucepriina, 
were  originally  from  Greece,  and,  when  the  Romans 
expelled  the  Greeks  from  Italy,  the  laws  which  pro- 
scribed them  excepted  all  those  who  practised  medi- 
cine. 

Archagathus  of  Peloponnesus,  and  son  of  Lysanias, 
is  the  first  Greek  mentioned  m  history  as  having 
gone  to  Rome  to  practise  the  healing  art.  He  went 
thither  219  years  before  Christ,  under  the  consulate 
of  Lucius  ^Emylius  Paulus  and  Livius.  The  Senate 
granted  him  the  right  of  citizenship,  and  bought  him 
a  shop  in  the  suburbs.  He  soon,  however,  treated 
diseases  in  so  barbarous  a  manner  that  he  received 
the  surname  of  the  executioner^  and  all  the  inhabi- 
tants refused  his  assistance. 


CATO,  CENSOR  AND  PRACTITIONER.  55 

Several  celebrated  personages  amongst  the  Romans 
detested  the  Greeks  on  account  of  their  avidity,  the 
latter  regarding  Italy  as  a  country  for  their  own 
aggrandizement.  Porcius  Cato,  the  Censor,  especi- 
ally distinguished  himself  for  the  aversion  which  he 
had  for  that  nation.  Scipio  Africanus,  on  the  con- 
trary, admired  and  protected  it.  This  reason  deter- 
mined Cato  to  inspire  his  son  with  an  implacable 
hatred  of  the  Greek  physicians.  The  austere  censor 
possessed,  also,  an  old  book  of  formulae,  which  he 
religiously  followed,  and  which  contrasted  in  a  strik- 
ing manner  with  the  ideas  of  the  Greeks. 

Cato  himself  practised  medicine  after  his  manner 
and  conformably  to  the  precepts  contained  in  his 
book.  Some  idea  may  be  given  of  the  principles 
on  which  all  his  science  rested,  when  it  is  known 
that,  like  Pythagoras,  he  regarded  the  cabbage  as  a 
universal  remedy ;  that  he  expressly  interdicted  fe- 
males from  administering  anything  to  diseased 
cattle;  that  he  regulated  according  to  the  ternary 
number  the  medicines  which  ouo;ht  to  enter  into 
the  composition  of  a  remedy  for  cows ;  and,  finally, 
that  he  pretended  to  cure  dislocations,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Etrusci  and  Pythagoreans,  by  barba- 
rous expressions  and  magical  songs,  such  as  "  Motas 
vaeta  daries  dardaries  astatutaries /'  or  ^'huat,hanat 
huat  ista  pista  sista,  domiabo  damnaustra  et  luxato;^''  or, 
finally,  "  huat^  haut  haut  ista  sis  tar  sis  ardanuahon 
dunnaustra^"  and  such  absurd  and  unmeaning  com- 
positions. These  superstitious  notions,  however,  are 
not  confined  to  the  ancients,  but  have  found  advo- 
cates even  in   much  more   recent  periods,  when  it 


5  6  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

would  naturally  be  supposed  that,  in  the  march  of 
civilization,  they  would  have  long  since  been  oblite- 
rated.* 

*  They  were  even  cherished  until  very  recently  in  some  dis- 
tricts of  Great  Britain,  and  there  are  frequent  allusions  to  them 
in  the  popular  poetry  of  the  17th  century  :— 

"  Tom  Pots  was  but  a  serving  man — 
But  yet  he  was  a  Doctor  good  ; 
He  bound  his  kerchief  on  the  wound, 
And  with  some  kind  words  staunch'd  the  blood  :" 

And  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  re- 
marks : — 

"  She  drew  the  splinter  from  the  wound, 
And  with  a  charm  she  staunch'd  the  blood." 


CHAPTER  V. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  JEWS  UP  TO  THE  CAPTIVITY  OF 
BABYLON. 

Egyptian  origin  of  their  medical  knowledge — Medical  attainments 
of  Moses  and  tke  lawgivers — Cure  of  the  lepra — The  healing 
art  a  vocation  of  the  prophets — Medical  work  of  Solomon — 
Recorded  cases  of  paralysis,  affections  of  the  intestines,  leprosy, 
etc. — First  origin  of  monks  and  monk  physicians. 

Having  already  referred  to  the  medicine  of  the 
Egyptians  up  to  the  reign  of  King  Psammetichus, 
or  prior  to  the  600th  year  before  the  Christian  era, 
we  may  now  appropriately  investigate  the  history 
of  the  art  amongst  the  Israelites  to  the  captivity 
of  Babylon.  The  conformity  which  existed  between 
the  constitution,  manners  and  degree  of  civilization 
of  the  Egyptians  and  those  of  the  Israelites  ought 
not  so  much  to  astonish  us  when  w^e  reflect  on  the 
various  journey ings  of  Abraham  and  his  children 
into  Egypt,  and  the  sojourn  of  four  hundred  years' 
duration  which  the  descendants  of  Jacob  made  in 
that  country.  It  is  true  that  the  Israelites  professed 
the  worship  of  the  true  G-od,  and  continued  to  a 
certain  extent  faithful  to  the  customs  of  their  ances- 
tors ;  but  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  they  borrowed 
considerably  from  the  Egyptians,  even  under  the 
legislation  of  Moses.     The  resemblance,  indeed,  be- 


58  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

tween  the  two  nations  is  so  striking  that  it  has  in- 
duced Strabo  and  others  to  believe  that  the  ancient 
Jews  were  descended  from  the  Egyptians. 

For  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  the  descendants 
of  Jacob  lived  in  Egypt  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Pharaohs,  when  a  liberator  appeared  to  deliver  them 
from  servitude,  and  to  conduct  them  to  the  borders 
of  the  country  which  the  Almighty  had  promised  to 
their  ancestors.  This  liberator  was  Moses,  who, 
having  been  adopted  by  the  daughter  of  the  king 
of  Egypt,  was  instructed  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences 
of  that  empire.  Ancient  writers  pretend  that  the 
priests  taught  him  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  me- 
dicine, and  Philo  Judeeus  asserts  that  the  Greeks, 
established  in  the  country,  instructed  him  in  the 
other  profane  sciences,  but  this  is  evidently  an  an- 
achronism. 

As  the  domination  of  the  priests  formed  in  Egypt 
the  basis  of  the  constitution,  Moses  also  established 
amongst  the  Israelites  a  religious  government. 
"And  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and 
an  holy  nation."  (Exod.  xix.  6.)  Like  also  as  in 
Egypt,  knowledge  of  every  kind  was  hereditary  in 
the  priesthood,  the  Levites  forming  also  the  here- 
ditary noblesse  amongst  the  descendants  of  Jacob. 
They  were  at  once  the  judges  and  physicians  of  the 
people.  A  variety  of  passages  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  especially  in  the  laws  of  Moses,  show  that  the 
lawgiver  had  considerable  knowledge  of  natural 
history  and  medicine.  I^ot  only  he  surpassed  the 
magicians  of  Egypt,  his  instructors,  but  he  also 
succeeded  in  burning  and  reducing  to  powder  the 


MEDICAL  KNOWLEDGE  OE  MOSES.  59 

golden  image  which  Aaron  had  made  for  the  people 
to  worship,  and  changed  the  hitter  water  of  Ma  rah 
to  sweet  by  casting  a  certain  wood  into  it.  Without 
more  exact  information,  however,  respecting  the 
means  which  he  employed  on  those  occasions,  it  is 
impossible  to  form  any  accurate  estimate  of  his  de- 
gree of  physical  or  medical  knowledge. 

Moses  has  given  the  least  equivocal  proofs  of  his 
medical  proficiency  in  that  portion  of  his  laws  which 
comprises  his  hygienic  precepts,  and  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  those  characters  by  which  the  white  leprosy 
might  be  discriminated,  as  well  as  of  the  means 
which  ought  to  be  had  recourse  to  for  its  cure.  He 
teaches  how  to  distinguish  the  spots  which  announce 
the  speedy  invasion  or  existence  of  the  lepra  from 
those  which  ought  not  to  inspire  suspicions,  and 
treats  fully  in  the  13th  chapter  of  Leviticus  of  the 
various  symptoms  of  that  dreaded  affection.  The 
cure  of  the  lepra,  like  that  of  all  other  diseases, 
was  considered  as  the  immediate  effect  of  the  om- 
nipotence of  God,  and  prayer  was  the  chief  means 
employed  for  its  removal.  An  immediate  revela- 
tion to  Moses  declared  that,  if  the  people  did  not 
observe  all  the  laws  of  Moses,  God  would  make 
their  plagues  wonderful,  visit  them  with  sore  sick- 
nesses, and  bring  upon  them  all  the  diseases  of 
Egypt.  (Deut.  xxviii.  59.)  When  Miriam  murmured 
against  the  lawgiver,  she  was  struck  with  leprosy, 
from  which  she  was  not  freed  until  Moses  had 
prayed  God  to  cure  her.  The  people,  also,  having 
revolted,  an  epidemic  arose  which  destroyed  1  -l-,700 
men,  and  did  not  yield  until  Aaron  the  high  priest 


6o  HISTOR  y  OF  MEDICINE. 

had  offered  up  incense.  The  Levites  alone  knew 
how  to  treat  the  lepra.  They  isolated  the  patient, 
purified  his  body  by  repeated  ablutions,  and  offered 
up  expiatory  sacrifices. 

The  exercise  of  medicine  remained  in  their  hands 
even  after  the  Israelites,  having  become  masters  of 
the  land  of  Canaan,  abandoned  their  nomadic  life, 
in  order  to  form  a  state  which  might  be  considered 
as  an  agricultural  republic.  The  healing  art  became 
subsequently  the  avocation  of  the  prophets,  up  to 
the  reign  of  Solomon,  which  elevated,  for  some 
time,  the  Jewish  nation  to  the  highest  point  of 
splendor.  Civilization  made  but  little  progress, 
from  their  avoiding  every  kind  of  connection  and 
admixture  with  the  neighboring  people,  although 
the  divine  laws  expressly  enjoined  them  to  treat  all 
nations  with  friendship.  E'otwithstanding  their 
proximity  to  the  Syrians,  with  whom  they  kept 
up  commercial  relations,  presented  a  valuable  op- 
portunity for  perfecting  themselves  in  the  sciences 
and  arts,  they  knew  so  little  how  to  profit  by  it, 
that  Solomon  was  compelled  to  procure  workmen 
from  Sidon  to  build  the  temple,  because  he  could 
find  no  person  in  all  Judea  who  could  work  the 
wood  with  so  much  dexterity  as  the  inhabitants  of 
that  industrious  city. 

In  the  time  of  Samuel,  the  Philistines  who  had 
carried  away  the  ark  of  God  were  struck  with  hae- 
morrhoids, from  which  they  were  not  freed  until 
they  had  offered  to  Jehovah  figures  in  gold  of  those 
excrescences.  When  King  Saul  was  attacked  with 
melancholy,  the  afiection  was  attributed  to  an  evil 


MEDICAL  BOOK  OF  SOL  OMON.  6 1 

spirit,  which  the  melodious  sounds  of  David's  harp 
alone  succeeded  in  expelling. 

The  reigns  of  David  and  Solomon  considerahly 
advanced  the  civilization  of  the  Jews,  but  the  pro- 
gress which  they  caused  in  it  was  not  of  great  dura- 
tion, for  the  division  of  the  kingdom  and  the  inca- 
pacity of  the  rulers  were  not  long  in  replunging  the 
people  into  sloth  and  stupidity.  The  extensive 
wisdom  of  Solomon  does  not  less  merit  our  attention 
than  his  enlightened  taste  for  commerce  and  the  fine 
arts  which  so  much  contributed  to  the  welfare  of  his 
people.  His  wisdom,  we  are  told,  excelled  the  wis- 
dom of  all  the  children  of  the  last  country  and  all  the 
wisdom  of  Egypt;  "he  spake  three  thousand  pro- 
verbs :  and  his  songs  were  a  thousand  and  ^y(6.  And 
he  spake  of  trees,  from  the  cedar  tree  that  is  in  Leb- 
anon, even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the 
wall ;  he  spake  also  of  beasts,  and  of  fowl,  and  of 
creeping  things,  and  of  fishes."  (1  Kings  iv.  32.) 

It  is  not,  consequently,  surprising  that  tradition 
should  have  attributed  to  him  a  book  which  in- 
structed how  to  treat  diseases  by  natural  means,  a 
book  which,  according  to  Suidas,  Ezechias  destroyed, 
because  the  use  of  the  remedies  pointed  out  in  it 
might  injure  the  interests  of  the  Levites,  who  cured 
diseases  by  expiatory  sacrifices.  The  qualifications 
of  this  great  prince  are  thus  spoken  of  by  Jose- 
phus :  "  God,"  says  he,  "had  accorded  him  the  power 
of  appeasing  his  rage  by  prayers,  and  of  driving  im- 
pure spirits  out  of  the  bodies  of  the  sick  by  conjura- 
tions." "  This  method,"  he  adds,  "is  the  one  followed 
in  our  own  days."     He  mentions  also  having  been 


62  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

witness  of  the  cure  of  one  possessed  of  an  evil  spirit, 
performed  by  Eleazar  in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor 
Vespasian.  The  prophet  introduced  into  the  nose 
of  the  patient  a  root  recommended  in  such  cases  by 
Solomon,  pronouncing  at  the  same  time  the  name  of 
that  prince. 

The  Jews  became  so  corrupt,  and  the  Levites  de- 
generated to  so  great  a  degree,  under  the  successors 
of  Solomon,  that  God  was  constrained  to  send  pro- 
phets to  bring  back  the  people  to  their  duty  and  the 
observance  of  the  law.  These  missionaries  were 
more  agreeable  to  the  people  than  to  the  Levites, 
from  whose  hands  they  took  away  the  practice  of 
medicine.  King  Jeroboam  having  been  wanting  in 
respect  to  one  of  these  servants  of  the  Lord,  his  hand 
dried  up,  "  so  that  he  could  not  pull  it  in  again  to 
him,"  and  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  paralysis  he  was 
compelled  to  supplicate  the  prophet  to  intercede  for 
him  with  the  Almighty.  Abijah,  the  son  of  Jero- 
boam, having  fallen  sick,  and  the  queen  being  desi- 
rous of  knowing  what  would  be  the  event  of  the 
disease,  she  went  to  Shiloh  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sulting the  prophet  Ahijah,  who  predicted  the  a|> 
proaching  death  of  her  son.  He,  however,  who 
rendered  himself  the  most  famous  for  his  prophetic 
cures  was  Elijah,  who  restored  to  life  the  son  of  a 
widow  at  Zarephath,  laboring  under  "  a  sickness  so 
sore  that  there  was  no  breath  left  in  him"  (1  Kings 
xvii.  17),  who  predicted  to  King  Jehoram  a  disease 
of  the  intestines  in  which  his  bowels  should  fall  out, 
and  to  Ahaziah  that  he  should  surely  die. 

Elisha  inherited  the   prophetic  spirit   of  Elijah. 


MIR  A  CULOUS  CURES  B  V  THE  PR  OPHE  TS.         6  3 

He  restored  to  life  the  son  of  a  woman  of  Shunem, 
and  freed  I^aaman,  the  Syrian  general,  from  leprosy 
by  prescribing  bathing  in  the  waters  of  Jordan. 
The  prophet  Isaiah  cured  also  King  Hezekiah  of  an 
imposthume  by  the  application  of  a  cataplasm  of 
figs.  King  Asa,  in  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  his 
reign,  was  diseased  in  his  feet,  until,  we  are  told, 
his  disease  was  exceedingly  great:  in  his  affliction, 
however,  he  sought  not  the  Lord,  but  the  ordinary 
physicians, — the  Levites, — and  died  after  having  lan- 
guished for  two  years.  King  Uzziah  was  also  struck 
with  leprosy  for  having  burnt  incense  in  the  temple 
and  for  having  resisted  the  priests  when  they  repre- 
sented to  him  the  impropriety  of  his  conduct. 

Such  are  the  principal  facts  which  can  give 
us  any  idea  of  the  state  of  medicine  amongst  the 
Israelites  prior  to  the  captivity  of  Babylon.  The 
habits  and  modes  of  thinking,  however,  of  that 
people  changed  considerably  after  ten  tribes  had 
been  led  by  Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria,  into  the 
cities  of  the  Medesand  intoHalah  and  Haborby  the 
river  of  Gozan,  and  wdien  the  tribe  of  Judah  was 
led  to  Babylon  by  ^Nebuchadnezzar.  The  Jews  then 
found  themselves  transported  into  nations  more  pol- 
ished than  themselves  and  whose  civilization  had 
followed  a  different  march.  Possessing  no  longer 
a  temple,  they  offered  up  their  prayers  in  secret, 
living  a  contemplative  life,  conjoined  with  the 
severe  abstinence  of  the  Orientals.  It  is  thus,  ac- 
cording to  Sprengel,  that  the  first  monks  sprang  up 
amongst  the  Israelites,  and  the  members  of  that  con- 


64  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

gregation  were  regarded  as  saints  and  physicians. 
The  first  who  devoted  themselves  to  this  new  mode 
of  life  were  the  Rechahites,  who  never  drank  wine, 
built  houses,  sowed  seed,  nor  cultivated  the  vine, 
but  dwelt  in  tents  according  to  the  rule  established 
by  their  founder  Jonadab. 


CHAPTER  VT. 


MEDICINE  OF  THE  HINDOOS. 


Early  state  of  civilization — Brahfnin  physicians — Laws  in  regard 
to  poisons — Diseases  caused  by  evil  genii — Superstitions — Pa- 
thology of  the  Hindoos — Treatment  of  fevers,  smallpox,  &c. 

Although  these  people  date  at  too  early  a  period 
the  origin  of  civilization  amongst  them,  and  their 
chronology  extends  to  a  most  astonishing  antiquity 
— their  period  Caliuga  being  3100  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  at  which  time  they  pretend  to  have 
calculated  the  equations  of  the  moon  and  performed 
other  difficult  astronomical  investigations — it  cannot 
be  denied  that  Alexander,  when  he  undertook  his 
expeditions  into  Egypt,  found  the  social  institutions 
at  a  very  high  degree  of  perfection  and  almost  in 
the  same  condition  as  they  are  at  the  present  day. 
Although  the  chronology  of  the  Brahmins  above 
referred  to  is  evidently  absurd,  it  is  unquestionable 
that  the  inhabitants  of  India  had  made  some  astro- 
nomical observations  a  long  time  before  they  had 
any  intercourse  with  Greece. 

As  among  the  Egyptians,  the  Hindoos  were,  at 
the  time  of  Alexander,  and  are  still,  divided  into 
several  tribes  or  original  castes,  of  which  that  of  the 
Brahmins  comprised  the  savans  and  physicians. 
From  the  testimony  of  Strabo,  these  Brahmins  ob- 
5 


66  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

served  the  greatest  sobriety,  passed  their  lives  in  con- 
templation, and  in  solitude  meditated  on  the  causes 
of  all  natural  phenomena.  There  was  also  in  India 
another  sect  of  philosophers  which  Clemens  of  Alex- 
dria  calls  the  Samaneans,  and  which  are  the  same  as 
the  Schamans  of  Thibet  and  of  the  coast  of  Malabar. 
The  Samaneans  were  also  divided  into  two  distinct 
classes,  the  Hylopians  ai^d  the  physicians  properly 
so  called.  These  latter  led  a  very  simple  life,  but 
did  not  dwell  in  the  woods  like  the  Hylopians. 
Their  food  consisted  of  rice  and  meal.  They  cured 
diseases,  less  by  medicine  than  by  regimen,  and  their 
ordinary  remedies  were  ointments  and  cataplasms, 
for  they  ascribed  a  less  certain  action  to  means  of  every 
other  kind.  From  this  caste  of  physicians  were  dis- 
tinguished the  magicians  and  sorcerers  who  wandered 
from  village  to  village  to  exercise  their  imaginary 
art. 

The  surveillance  of  the  sick  was  entrusted  in  the 
towns  to  a  particular  class  of  magistrates,  who  were 
also  charged  with  the  burials  and  under  whose  in- 
spection the  Samaneans  practised  physic.  It  appears 
also  that  there  existed  a  law  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
venting any  one  who  should  discover  a  poison  from 
making  it  known  before  he  had  found  out  an  anti- 
dote to  combat  its  effects.  Should  he,  however, 
succeed  in  doing  the  latter,  the  king  loaded  him 
with  honors,  but  if  he  published  the  formula  for  the 
poison  without  pointing  out  that  of  the  remedy,  he 
was  punished  with  death.  At  the  time  of  Megas- 
thenes,  about  300  years  before  Christ,  the  knowledge 
of  the  Brahmins  and  the  laws  of  the  Hindoos  were 


BRAHMIN  PHYSICIANS.  67 


not  consigned  in  books,  and  were  only  transmitted 
by  tradition.  All  diseases  were  considered  as  the 
effect  of  the  influence  of  evil  genii,  and  could  not  be 
cured  until  the  latter  had  been  expelled  by  purifica- 
tions and  magic  words. 

The  Brahmins  of  more  recent  days  have  not  been 
wholly  devoid  of  medical  knowledge,  but  they  exer- 
cised medicine  as  a  vulgar  profession,  scarcely  ever 
endeavoring   to  improve  it,  and   transmitted  their 
mode  of  treatment  to  their  children  such  as  they  had 
received  it  from  their  parents.     They  had  not  the 
slightest  knowledge  of  anatomy,  but  possessed  some 
old  works  on  the  healing  art,  written  in  verse  and 
containing  collections  of  formulae,  of  which  sugar 
formed  the  chief  ingredient,  applicable  to  all  diseases. 
In  the  exercise  of  medicine  as  much   superstition 
existed  amongst  the  Hindoos  as  amongst  the  Chinese. 
Of  this  there  is  a  striking  example  in  the  treatment 
of  the  bites  made  by  venomous  serpents.     Oil  was 
poured   into  a  vessel  containing  the  urine  of  the 
person  bitten,  and  according  as  it  might  swim  or  be 
precipitated  they  prognosticated  death  or  recovery. 
Future  events  were  also  looked  for  in  the  aspect  of  the 
stars,  the  flight  of  birds,  and  other  similar  futilities. 
It  has  been  asserted  that  there  at  one  time  existed 
on  the  coast  of  Coromandel  eight  classes  of  physi- 
cians, having  each  their  particular  department,  some 
adhering  to  the  diseases  of  children  and  acknow- 
ledging the  wind  as  their  patron ;  others  confining 
themselves  to  the  cure  of  the  bites  of  serpents,  and 
considering  the  air  as  their  protecting  deity,  &c. 
The  pathology  of  the  Hindoos  was  extremely  con- 


6S  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

fused.  They  attributed  to  worms  all  the  diseases  of 
the  skin,  and  every  other  they  ascribed  to  three  prin- 
cipal causes,  wind,  vertigo,  and  change  of  humors. 
According  to  one  of  their  theories,  the  body  is  com- 
posed of  100,000  parts,  in  which  are  comprised  17,000 
vessels,  each  of  which  has  seven  different  canals, 
and  in  which  are  ten  species  of  wind.  Diseases 
arise  from  the  irregular  directions  of  these  winds, 
and  as  the  external  air  which  enters  the  lungs  in  the 
act  of  respiration  is  the  source  of  all  the  wmds,  the 
best  preventive  of  these  disorders  consists  in  not 
breathing  too  quickly.  According  to  the  memoirs 
of  the  Danish  missionaries,  there  were  some  Gentoos 
who  reckoned  44:48  different  species  of  diseases. 

Regimen  formed  the  principal  part  of  Hindoo  me- 
dicine. A  considerable  portion  of  them  lived  only 
on  vegetables,  even  in  a  state  of  health,  an  observa- 
tion which  Strabo  and  Suidas  had  already  made. 
They  do  not,  at  the  present  day,  attain  the  very 
advanced  age  of  which  these  authors  speak,  and 
which  might  in  some  measure  be  expected  as  the 
results  of  their  mode  of  life.  According  to  Clarke, 
however,  it  would  seem  that  their  sobriety  preserved 
them  from  several  severe  disorders,  especially  the  in- 
termittent fevers  occasioned  by  the  insalubrious  air 
of  marshes.  Their  excessive  cleanliness,  the  frequent 
use  of  the  warm  bath,  and  particularly  the  custom 
of  using  friction  and  brushing  of  the  skin  on  coming 
out  of  the  bath,  also  had  a  powerful  influence  on 
their  health. 

It  has  been  aflarmed  that  the  Brahmins  were  well 
acquainted  with  the  virtues  of  plants,  and  that  they 


HINDOO   TREATMENT  OF  DISEASE.  69 

employed  certain  medicines  with  much  advantage. 
They  made  use  of  lime-water  and  the  dolichos  pru- 
riens  in  cases  of  worms;  formed  with  juice  of  the 
euphorbium  and  maize  flour,  pills  which  they  ad- 
ministered, as  well  as  the  excrement  of  the  cow,  in  a 
considerable  number  of  cases.  They  prescribed  rice 
in  cholera  morbus,  and  sand-baths  in  the  beriberi, 
a  disease  of  the  nervous  function  not  uncommon 
in  those  parts.  They  were  not  in  general  advocates 
for  the  operation  of  bloodletting,  but  regarded  the 
opening  of  the  lingual  veins  as  an  excellent  remedy 
in  angina  and  difi;erent  other  affections.  Caustics 
w^ere  their  favorite  means,  and  they  a23plied  them  like 
the  Japanese  in  bone  fever  and  in  cholera  morbus ; 
they  scarified  the  eyelids,  and  made  incisions  in  the 
forehead  in  ophthalmia,  which  was  very  frequently 
observed  amongst  them,  but  they  had  no  idea  of 
amputation.  In  acute  fevers  they  prescribed  the 
most  rigid  diet,  and,  when  the  indications  were  press- 
ing, bloodletting.  The  chief  occupation,  however, 
of  the  physician  was  to  explore  the  pulse,  which 
he  never  felt  without  attentively  considering  the 
countenance  of  the  patient,  for,  according  to  their 
opinion,  every  change  in  the  pulse  drew  on  an  altera- 
tion in  the  features.  In  the  smallpox  they  ordered 
an  antiphlogistic  regimen,  modified  according  to  the 
individual  constitution  of  the  patient,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Mackintosh,  but  which,  to  say  the  least  of 
it,  is  problematical,  they  knew  how  to  remove  the 
scars  left  by  the  variolous  pustules,  by  the  aid  of 
an  ointment,  of  which  the  Europeans  have  not  yet 
discovered  the  composition.    They  used,  in  the  treat- 


70  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

ment  of  venereal  diseases,  some  particular  and  in- 
digenous medicines,  principally  pills  of  eupliorbium, 
which  enjoyed  with  them  a  great  reputation.  They 
had  an  aversion  to  glysters,  and  possessed,  accord- 
ing to  one  authority,  an  arcanum  which,  against 
the  bites  of  serpents,  acted  like  the  most  energetic 
opiates,  and  almost  always  cured  those  who  might 
have  been  bitten. 

Such  is  a  summary  of  what  we  know  regarding 
the  medicine  of  the  Hindoos;  but  under  the  influ- 
ence of  greater  civilization  many  of  these  views 
may  have  become  modified,  and  other  remedies  and 
modes  of  treatment  adopted  by  them.  It  is  impos- 
sible, in  the  accounts  we  have  given  of  the  medical 
relations  of  the  Brahmins,  to  make  any  chronologi- 
cal arrangement.  It  is  j)robable  that  many  of  the 
agents  referred  to  are  of  purely  modern  employment 
among  them,  and  we  have  no  reliable  data  to  inform 
us  how  many  of  the  ancient  remedies  have  been  dis- 
carded. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  CHINESE  AND  JAPANESE. 

Causes  of  their  imperfect  civilization — Ancient  code  of  the  Chi- 
nese physicians — Medical  schools — Chinese  knowledge  of  ana- 
tomy, physiology,  &c. — Exploration  of  the  pulse — Physicians 
of  the  court  of  Pekin — Medical  knowledge  and  practice  of  the 
Japanese — The  moxa,  its  preparation  and  uses. 

A  VARIETY  of  insurmountable  obstacles  have  op- 
posed themselves  to  the  Chinese  ever  attaining  the 
same  degree  of  civilization  that  the  European 
arrives  at  with  so  much  comparative  facility. 
The  first  is  situated  in  his  organization,  whether 
natural  or  acquired  by  education;  the  second  in  the 
frightful  despotism  which  hangs  over  his  head ;  the 
third,  in  the  foolish  vanity  which  has  induced  him 
to  believe  that  China  is  the  country  of  wisdom  and 
the  sciences.  Du  Halde,  although  a  panegyrist  in 
other  respects  of  the  handicraft  of  the  Chinese,  has 
accused  them,  with  reason,  of  pushing  superstition  to 
blindness,  and  of  being  in  absolute  ignorance  of 
every  branch  of  natural  history.  According,  also, 
to  Chirardini  and  Sir  Geo.  Staunton,  they  possess 
neither  an  inventive  spirit,  taste  for  the  fine  arts, 
nor  genius  in  works  of.  the  mind. 

Isolated  from  every  other  nation,  the  Chinese  were, 
comparatively  speaking,  known  only  in  modern  times 


7  2  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

to  Europeans.  The  first  remarks  which  we  possess  of 
them  were  commmiicatecl  in  the  13th  century ;  but  it 
is  highly  probable  that  they  had  previously  had  com- 
munications with  the  advanced  nations  of  Europe, 
and  that  they  had  acquired  from  them  some  of  their 
knowledge.  It  is  known  that  Bactriana  and  Sogdi- 
ana  were  conquered  by  the  Scythians,  126  years  before 
the  Christian  era.  The  sciences  and  arts  have  flour- 
ished in  those  countries  since  the  time  of  Alexander, 
and  the  Chinese  themselves  relate,  in  their  ancient 
cjironicles,  that  towards  this  period  several  savans, 
especially  astronomers,  went  from  those  countries  to 
reside  amongst  them.  It  is  consequently  not  unrea- 
sonable to  presume  that  the  astronomical  knowledge 
of  the  Chinese  may  be  dated  at  that  period,  and 
that  it  was  introduced  through  that  channel.  It  is 
said  by  Le  Comte,  in  his  Memoires  sur  VEtat  present 
de  la  Chine,  that  Hoang-ti  composed,  four  thou- 
sand years  ago,  the  code  by  which  the  Chinese  phy- 
sicians have  been  until  recently  and  may  at  the 
present  day  be  guided.  According  to  the  testimony, 
however,  of  the  best  informed  mandarins,  this  code 
was  not  substituted  for  the  ancient,  until  after  the 
burning  of  a  considerable  library  in  China,  which 
occurred  230  years  before  the  Christian  era. 

There  were  formerly  in  China  imperial  schools, 
in  which  medicine  and  astrology  were  at  the  same 
time  taught,  the  latter  forming  a  favorite  branch 
with  the  Chinese.  The  physicians  were  but  little 
esteemed  and  very  badly  paid,  and  those  of  the 
court,  according  to  Du  Halde,  were  commonly  de- 
prived of  their  virility.     Every  one,  however,  was 


CHINESE  NOTIONS  OF  ANATOMY,  ETC.  73 

permitted  to  exercise  medicine  according  to  his  own 
fashion,  and  to  prepare  his  medicines  in  the  manner 
which  he  considered  the  most  suitable.  The  physi- 
cians who  enjoyed  the  highest  consideration  were 
those  who  had  learned  the  healing  art  from  their 
fathers  and  who  transmitted  it  to  their  children. 
Even  at  the  present  day  it  is  probable  that  there 
does  not  exist  in  China  a  school  in  which  the  art 
can  be  studied,  so  that  it  may  be  considered  as 
in  a  state  of  comparative  infancy. 

The  notions  which  the  Chinese  possess  regarding 
the  structure  of  the  body  mainly  rest  on  old  tradi- 
tions, which  probably  originated  from  the  G-reek 
physicians  of  Bactriana ;  superstition  preventing 
them  from  dissecting.  It  is  on  this  account  that 
their  anatomical  information  has  been  so  very  in- 
correct and  confused  as  to  scarcely  deserve  mention. 
A  single  glance  at  the  plates  given  by  Cleyer,  in  his 
Specimen  Ifedicince  Sinicce,  will  at  once  show  their 
slight  knowledge  of  the  human  organization. 

Their  physiology  is  not  less  contemptible.  They 
admit  two  constituent  elements  of  the  body,  heat 
and  moisture.  These  elements  residing  in  the  blood 
and  in  the  vital  spirits,  their  union  produced  life, 
and  their  separation  occasioned  death.  The  six  chief 
parts  in  which  the  radical  moisture  is  seated  are, — on 
the  left  side,  the  heart,  the  liver,  and  the  left  kidney; 
on  the  right,  the  lungs,  the  spleen,  and  the  right  kid- 
ney. To  these  they  give  the  name  of  the  gates  of 
life.  The  viscera  in  which  the  vital  heat  resides 
are, — on  the  left  side,  the  small  intestines,  the  gall- 
bladder, and  the  ureters ;  on  the  right  side,  the  large 


74  HI  ST  OR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

intestines,  the  stomach,  and  the  genital  organs. 
There  exists,  moreover,  according  to  them,  a  certain 
concordance  between  these  viscera,  tlie  small  intes- 
tines being  in  harmony  with  the  heart,  the  gall- 
bladder with  the  liver,  the  ureters  with  the  kidneys, 
the  large  intestines  with  the  lungs,  the  stomach 
with  the  spleen,  and  the  organs  of  generation  with 
the  right  kidney.  The  vital  heat  and  radical  mois- 
ture pass  at  certain  periods  from  the  limbs  into  the 
viscera,  and  vice  versa.  The  body  they  consider  to 
heal  in  connection  with  certain  external  matters 
which  exert  a  constant  agency  upon  it.  Thus  we 
are  told  that  in  summer  heat  acts  upon  the  heart  and 
large  intestines ;  that  the  viscera  are  in  harmony  with 
the  south ;  the  liver  and  gall-bladder  with  the  atmos- 
phere, and  both  one  and  the  other  with  the  east  as 
well  as  with  spring;  that  the  metals  exert  an  in- 
fluence over  the  lungs  and  large  intestines,  and  are 
in  harmony  with  the  west  and  with  autumn;  and  a 
variety  of  sundry  absurdities. 

To  the  Chinese  the  credit  has  generally  been  given 
of  understanding  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  but 
if  we  believe  Cleyer  nothing  can  well  be  more  ab- 
surd than  their  ideas  on  this  subject.  According 
to  that  author,  the  Chinese  physicians  make  the 
circulation  of  the  vital  heat  and  radical  moisture  to 
begin  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It  com- 
mences in  the  lungs,  and  terminates  at  the  expira- 
tion of  twenty-four  hours  in  the  liver.  They  have 
even  calculated  the  rapidity  of  the  circulation,  and 
pretend  that  in  twenty-four  hours  the  number  of 
pulsations  amounts  to  from  54,000  to  67,000,  whilst 


CHINESE  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  PULSE.         75 

the  number  of  respirations  in  the  same  period  is 
generally  about  35,500  ;  a  calculation,  however,  evi- 
dently most  absurd,  the  pulsations  being  estimated 
no  higher  than  twice  the  number  of  respirations. 

The  exploring  of  the  pulse  is  the  most  important 
part  of  Chinese  medicine.  They  compare  the  human 
body  to  a  musical  instrument,  and  conceive  that  such 
an  accordance  exists  between  its  different  parts  and 
the  viscera,  that  we  may  be  able  to  know  whatever 
is  going  on  in  it  by  inspecting  the  eyes  and  tongue, 
and  especially  by  feeling  the  pulse.  They  flatter 
themselves  that  they  can  discover  by  the  aid  of  the 
last,  viz.,  the  jDulse,  not  only  the  seat  but  also  the 
causes  of  diseases.  Most  of  the  examples,  however, 
which  the  credulous  missionaries  have  related  as 
proofs  of  their  extraordinary  dexterity  in  that  re- 
spect are  only  so  many  proofs  of  the  charlatanry  and 
deceit  of  their  physicians.  The  mode  in  which 
they  explore  the  pulse  is  as  mystical  as  it  is  ridicu- 
lous; they  apply  the  four  fingers  upon  the  artery, 
raising  and  depressing  them  over  the  vessel  as  if 
they  were  playing  upon  the  piano-forte. 

In  diseases  of  the  heart,  they  feel  the  pulse  of  the 
left  arm ;  a  little  higher,  but  on  the  same  side,  in  affec- 
tions of  the  liver ;  in  the  right  arm,  in  those  of  the 
stomach ;  at  the  wrist  in  those  of  the  lungs,  and 
above  the  joint  of  the  hand  in  those  of  the  kidneys. 
According  to  an  old  codex  quoted  by  Cleyer,  the 
Chinese  distinguish  three  different  places  at  the 
wrist  where  the  pulse  may  be  felt :  the  nearest  to 
the  hand  on  the  left  side  they  consider  as  the  pulse 
for  affections  of  the  heart  and  pericardium,  and  on 


76  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

the  right  side  for  diseases  of  the  lungs  ;  the  highest 
place  of  those  indicated,  on  the  left  side,  diseases  of 
the  left  kidney  and  small  intestines ;  on  the  right 
side,  those  of  the  right  kidney  and  large  intestines ; 
the  middle  between  the  two,  on  the  right  side,  is 
considered  the  pulse  of  the  liver  and  diaphragm  ;  on 
the  left  side,  that  of  the  stomach  and  spleen.  They 
pretend  also  that  they  can  determine  the  variation 
which  the  pulse  undergoes  during  the  phases  of  the 
moon  and  at  the  changes  of  the  seasons. 

The  other  principles  of  Chinese  medicine  are 
equally  devoid  of  rationality  with  their  theory  of 
the  pulse.  The  physicians  of  the  court  of  Pekin 
attributed  the  greater  j)art  of  diseases  to  spirits  or 
winds,  and  dysentery  to  the  want  of  heat  in  the 
fluids.  The  chimerical  idea  of  a  panacea  capable  of 
causing  everlasting  life  existed  in  China  as  in  other 
countries.  The  ancient  Scythians  had  labored  hard 
to  discover  the  important  secret,  but  the  Chinese 
fancied  that  they  possessed  it  in  the  root  of  ginseng, 
if  properly  administered.  The  sect  Tao-tse  pretended 
that  they  knew  the  composition  of  a  similar  means 
adapted  for  indefinitely  prolonging  life.  Staunton 
presumes  that  there  entered  into  this  preparation 
opium  and  other  similar  substances  capable  of  for 
some  time  exalting  the  imagination.  The  Chinese 
made  use  of  the  China  root  in  the  majority  of  dis- 
eases ;  and  they  even  now  sell  in  all  the  markets, 
under  the  name  of  cordials,  an  incredible  quantity 
of  medicines,  which  the  common  people  employ  in- 
discriminately. Du  Halde  has  given  an  extract  from 
an  old  Chinese  book  on  botany,  in  which  the  virtues 


MEDICINE  OF  THE  JAPANESE.  77 

of  various  simple  and  compound  medicines  are  ex- 
posed with  much  superstition.  If  we  may  credit  the 
recital  of  some  missionaries,  the  Chinese  were  at  one 
time  neither  subject  to  the  stone  nor  the  gout,  ex- 
ceptions which  are  attributed  to  the  use  of  tea.  They 
frequently  employed  the  bile  of  the  elephant,  white 
vegetable  wax,  ivory,  and  musk.  They  rarely  used 
bloodletting,  but  -were  great  friends  to  baths,  dry 
cupping,  and  cauterization,  which  they  principally 
used  for  expelling  wind,  the  cause,  according  to 
them,  of  the  major  part  of  disorders. 

The  Japanese  have  borrowed  of  the  Chinese  the 
majority  of  their  principles,  and  the  practice  of  the 
art  has  been  with  them  enveloped  in  the  same 
prejudices.  They  were  afraid  of  bloodletting,  and 
had  not  the  least  notion  of  anatomy.  All  their 
science  consisted  in  the  exploring  of  the  jjulse.  They 
employed  the  actual  cautery  in  all  diseases,  but 
especially  in  the  gout.  The  most  common  form  of 
the  cautery  was  the  moxa,  which  w^as  afterwards, 
although  under  a  modified  construction,  introduced 
into  Europe."^  The  Chinese  moxas  were  formed  from 
the  dried  leaves  of  the  Artemisia  vulgaris  latifolia^  or 
Artemisia  Chinensis,  a  species  of  mugwort.  The 
Japanese  considered  that  it  was  proper  to  gather  the 
artemisia  for  this  purpose  only  on  those  days  which 
had  been  selected  by  their  astrologers,  and  which 

*  A  description  of  tlie  mode  in  which  it  may  be  extemporane- 
ously formed  for  practical  purposes,  and  the  cases  in  which  the 
physician  may  advantageously  avail  himself  of  its  administration, 
may  be  found  in  the  author's  translation  of  Baron  Larrey's 
Memoir  on  the  Use  of  the  Moxa,  London,  1832. 


78  HI  ST  OR  y  OF  MEDICINE. 

were  thought  to  possess  the  advantage  of  a  particu- 
larly benign  influence  of  the  heavens  and  stars,  by 
which  the  virtues  of  the  plant  were  considered  to  be 
greatly  increased.  These  were  the  first  five  days  of 
the  fifth  Ja]3anese  month,  called  by  the  natives  G-on- 
guatzgoritz^  which,  according  to  the  Gregorian  cal- 
endar, answers  to  the  beginning  of  June,  and  some- 
times, but  seldom,  to  the  latter  end  of  May,  the 
Japanese  commencing  their  year  with  the  new  moon 
next  to  the  spring  equinox.  The  artemisia  received 
the  name  of  moxa  when  dried.  Its  preparation, 
which  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  describe,  was 
formerly  kept  a  great  secret  by  the  Chinese. 

According  to  Kaempfer,  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
burned  with  the  moxa  indiflerently  and  without  re- 
gard, old  and  young,  rich  and  poor,  male  and  female ; 
women  big  with  child  were  alone  spared,  if  they 
had  not  been  burnt  before.  The  intent  of  burning 
with  the  moxa  was  either  to  prevent  or  to  cure  dis- 
eases, but  it  was  more  particularly  recommended 
by  their  physicians  as  a  preventive  medicine,  for 
which  reason  they  prescribed  it  to  the  healthy  more 
frequently  than  to  the  sick.  This  practice  they 
grounded  upon  the  principle  that  by  the  very  same 
virtue  by  which  it  dispelled  and  cured  present 
distempers,  it  must  of  necessity  destroy  the  seeds  of 
those  to  come,  and  by  that  means  prevent  them. 
It  was  at  one  time  the  custom  for  all  persons  who 
had  any  regard  for  their  health  to  cause  themselves 
to  be  burnt  once  every  six  months,  and  this  custom 
was  so  thoroughly  and  so  religiously  observed  in 
Japan,  that  even  those  unhappy  persons  who  were 


THE  MOXA.  79 


condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment  were  not  de- 
prived of  this  benefit,  but  were  taken  out  of  their 
dungeons  once  in  six  months  in  order  to  be  burnt 
with  the  moxa.  The  neighboring  black  nations 
made  more  use  of  this  agent  than  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese  themselves,  in  epilepsy  and  all  chronic 
cephalic  disorders,  their  plan  being  to  burn  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  it  on  the  crown  of  the  head, 
which,  it  is  said,  was  sometimes  attended  with 
so  much  success,  that  some  patients  are  said  to  have 
recovered  who  had  been  previously  given  over  by 
their  physicians. 

In  all  the  northern  provinces  of  China  the  prin- 
cipal remedy  for  most  diseases  consisted  in  making 
deep  punctures  in  the  body,  after  which  small  balls 
of  the  down  of  the  artemisia  were  burnt,  these 
punctures  being  made  with  needles  of  gold,  silver, 
or  steel,  without  drawing  blood;  and  all  the  skill 
required  in  the  physician  was  to  determine  their 
number  and  depth,  and  where  it  was  necessary  to 
make  them.  It  was  formerly  considered  that  every 
kind  of  fire  was  not  proper  for  lighting  these  salu- 
tary balls,  and,  therefore,  mirrors  of  ice  or  metal  were 
employed  for  that  purpose,  which  caused  the  water, 
according  to  the  Abbe  Grosier,  to  freeze  in  a  round 
convex  vessel,  and  the  ice,  being  presented  to  the 
sun,  collected  its  rays  and  set  fire  to  the  down  of  the 
plant.  Ten  Rhyne  observes  that  acupuncturation 
became  a  peculiar  art  in  Japan,  and  that  the.  houses 
of  the  practitioners  were  known  by  the  wooden  image 
of  a  man  in  the  vestibule,  on  which  the  places  for 


8o  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

acupuncturation  and  the  application  of  the  moxa 
were  delineated. 

The  last  absurdities  respecting  those  people  which 
may  be  mentioned  are  the  belief  that  the  color  of 
red  was  very  advantageous  in  the  smallpox,  for  which 
purpose  they  lined  the  chambers  of  those  laboring 
under  it  with  cloth  of  that  color;  and  the  plan  pur- 
sued by  some  of  their  magicians,  who  are  said  to  have 
cured  the  majority  of  their  diseases  by  placing  before 
their  idols  the  description  in  writing  of  particular 
characters  of  the  affection  under  which  the  patient 
labored,  making  the  paper  afterwards  into  pills  and 
causing  the  patient  to  swallow  them.  Some  of  these 
absurdities,  from  all  we  can  learn,  still  influence, 
with  slight  modification,  the  practitioners  of  the 
modern  em23ire. 

As  previously  remarked  in  regard  to  the  Hindoos, 
it  is  imj)0ssible  to  speak  definitely  of  the  more 
recent  progress  of  medicine  in  China  and  Japan, 
especially  as  so  large  a  portion  of  the  interior  of 
each  vast  country  is  still  in  a  state  of  only  semi- 
civilization  or  partial  barbarism.  In  a  brief  sketch 
of  Oriental  pathology  and  practice,  much  that  is 
modern  is  necessarily  mingled  with  a  large  amount 
of  ancient  traditionary  information,  which  it  would 
be  a  useless  task  to  classify  chronologically. , 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  SCYTHIANS. 

Progress  of  their  civilization — Wonderful  cures — Abaris,  the  Hy- 
perborean— Anacharsis — Toxaris. 

The  southern  part  of  Russia  from  the  Black  Sea 
to  Mount  Oural  has  been  inhabited,  from  time  im- 
memorial, by  the  Scythians.  This  nation  descended, 
like  almost  all  others,  from  Caucasus,  and,  always 
more  and  more  compressed  by  those  which  sur- 
rounded it,  were  at  last  obliged  to  abandon  their 
territory  to  the  Huns  or  Oriental  Mongols,  at  the 
period  wdien  Europe  and  Asia  were  inundated  by 
hordes  of  barbarians  from  the  icy  regions  of  the 
north. 

The  Greeks  were  acquainted  with  this  nomadic 
nation  a  short  time  after  the  Trojan  war,  for  the 
excellent  productions  of  the  country  which  they  in- 
habited excited  the  cupidity  of  the  merchants  of 
Miletus  and  several  other  Greek  cities  of  Asia  Minor, 
who  established  at  the  mouth  of  the  Danube,  of  the 
Tyras,  the  Borysthenes,  and  on  the  banks  of  the 
Palus  Maeotides  numerous  colonies,  by  means  of 
which  they  entered  into  a  more  intimate  connection 
with  the  Scythians,  to  whom  they  gradually  com- 
municated a  certain  degree  of  civilization. 

Many  singular  and  incredible  traditions  reigned 
6 


HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 


in  Greece  on  the  mode  of  life,  manners,  and  know- 
ledge of  this  people.  So  many  surprising  facts  are 
related  of  Abaris,  Zamolxis,  and  of  different  other 
Scythians  who  had  travelled  in  G-reece  or  received 
some  tincture  of  civilization  in  the  Asiatic  colonies, 
that,  if  we  believe  the  tales,  it  would  seem  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Scythia  had  discovered  the  means 
of  attaining  knowledge  beyond  the  ordinal y  capa- 
bility of  man.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  Chal- 
deans, Egyptians,  and  other  nations  have  not  been 
less  held  up  to  admiration. 

The  history  of  Abaris,  the  Hyperborean,  is  a  tis- 
sue of  so  many  fables,  that  we  are  tempted  to  believe 
him  an  absolutely  imaginary  personage.  He  under- 
took, in  the  quality  of  priest,  a  journey  to  Delphi, 
cured  several  patients  by  magical  means  or  by  charms, 
as  was  the  habit  of  all  the  priests  of  that  period,  and 
as  we  are  assured  put  a  stop  to  an  epidemic.  Ac- 
cording to  some  authors,  he  built  the  temple  of  Kdpi? 
ffwttipa  at  Lacedsemon,  pronounced  several  oracles, 
and  arrested  by  charms  the  plague  which  desolated 
that  city. 

Another  Scythian  not  less  famous,  Anacharsis, 
travelled  into  Greece  at  the  time  of  Solon,  and,  on 
his  return  from  his  travels,  instructed  his  country- 
men in  the  regimen  which  they  ought  to  observe  in 
acute  diseases,  as  well  as  the  means  best  adapted  for 
appeasing  the  wrath  of  the  gods.  He  rendered  him- 
self celebrated  for  his  great  wisdom  and  the  purity  of 
his  manners. 

A  third,  named  Toxaris,  accompanied  Anacharsis 
in  his  travels  to  Athens.     He  acquired  great  reputa- 


SCYTHIAN  MEDICAL  CELEBRITIES.  83 

tion  ill  that  city,  from  his  becoming  one  of  the 
Asclepiades,  and  practising  medicine  with  the  great- 
est success.  After  his  death  he  is  said  to  have 
arrested  a  plague  by  appearing  to  the  wife  of  one 
of  the  members  of  the  Areopagus,  and  the  Athe- 
nians, in  gratitude,  erected  him  an  altar  on  which 
was  sacrificed  every  year  a  white  horse. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MEDICINE  OF  THE  CELTS. 

The  Gauls  and  the  Belgse — The  Druids,  the  Eubages.  and  the 
Bards — Medical  sorceresses — Druidical  remedies. 

Under  the  name  of  Celts  we  include  especially  the 
Gauls  and  the  Belgse.  The  former  lived  at  first  in 
France  between  the  Seine  and  Garonne,  but  subse- 
quently crossed  into  England  and  were  replaced  by 
the  Belg88,  who  had  previously  resided  between  the 
Loire  and  the  Ehine,  Although  the  latter  were  a 
little  more  enlightened  than  the  others,  there  is 
every  reason  for  believing  that  the  knowledge  of 
their  priests  was  very  limited. 

The  learned  amongst  the  Celts  were  called  Druids. 
They  were  at  the  same  time  judges,  legislators, 
priests,  physicians,  and  divines.  The  isle  of  An- 
glesey in  England  was,  according  to  Rowland,  at 
first  the  place  of  their  congregating,  and  they  would 
seem  to  have  been  more  highly  estimated  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  than  amongst  the 
Gauls ;  several  Druidical  remains  being  still  observa- 
ble in  that  country.  Subsequently  they  became 
divided  into  three  classes,  the  Druidi  or  Druids  pro- 
perly so-called,  who  were  the  legislators ;  the  Eubages, 
who  studied  nature ;  and  the  Bardi  or  Bards,  who 
confined  themselves  to  poetry  and  history.  Clemens 
of  Alexandria  compares  them,  with  considerable 
justice,  to  the  Schamans  of  Thibet,  of  whom  we  have 


THE  DRUIDS  AND  THEIR  REMEDIES.  85 

already  spoken.  In  fact  these  Druids  were  so  many 
impostors  who  had  succeeded  in  rendering  themselves 
free  from  all  authority  by  persuading  the  people  that 
they  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  the  gods.  Their 
wives,  Avho  were  called  Alraunes,  exercised  also  the 
calling  of  sorceresses,  causing  considerable  evil  by 
their  witchcraft,  but  taking  charge  of  those  warriors 
who  might  have  been  wounded.  They  gathered 
those  plants  to  which  they  attributed  magical  vir- 
tues, and  unravelled  dreams.  Women  in  childbed 
especially  implored  their  assistance. 

The  Druids  revealed  only  their  principles  and 
methods  to  tliose  who  were  initiated  in  their  mys- 
teries, and  communicated  their  instructions  in  the 
woods  and  unfrequented  places.  As  they  celebrated 
their  religious  ceremonies  under  the  oak,  they  at- 
tributed to  the  mistletoe,  a  plant  sacred  amongst 
them,  the  virtue  of  curing  all  diseases.  They  col- 
lected it  in  great  pomp  on  the  first  day  of  each  year, 
and  immolated  white  bulls  immediately  after  having 
found  it.  They  regarded  also  the  selago,  a  plant  re- 
sembling savin,  and  the  vervain  as  sacred  plants, 
capable  of  curing  all  sorts  of  diseases  and  wounds. 
This  latter  was  always  gathered  at  the  rising  of  the 
star  Sirius,  and  the  time  of  collection  was  preceded 
by  mystical  ceremonies. 

From  this  brief  account  of  the  Druids  it  appears 
how  erroneous  it  is  to  ascribe  to  them,  as  has  been 
done  by  some  writers,  considerable  knowledge.  All 
the  barbarous  nations  resembled  them ;  their  priests 
being  only  so  many  impostors,  who  arrogated  to 
themselves  the  exclusive  possession  of  medicine  and 
other  sciences. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FIRST  TRACES  OP  A  MEDICAL  THEORY  IN  THE  PHILOSOPHIC 
SCHOOLS  OF  GREECE. 

Medicine  emerging  from  the  age  of  superstition — Pythagoras  and 
his  school — His  services  to  the  cause  of  medicine — Dietetic  and 
other  regulations  of  himself  and  followers — Psychological  and 
physiological  theories — Medical  practice  of  his  time — Alcmaeon, 
the  first  comparative  anatomist — Most  ancient  treatise  on  phy- 
siology— Empedocles  of  Agrigentum — His  valuable  services  ia 
time  of  an  epidemic — His  views  on  anatomy  and  physiology — 
Successors  of  Pythagoras — Anaxagoras  and  his  views — Demo- 
critus  of  Abdera — Democedes  of  Crotona — Gymnastic  physi- 
cians— Political  condition  of  the  physicians  of  Greece — Military 
surgeons — Charlatans. 

The  fragments  which  we  possess  of  the  works 
written  by  the  ancients,  and  the  wreck  of  the  monu- 
ments of  antiquity  which  has  escaped  from  the  de- 
structive jaws  of  time,  exhibit  but  a  feeble  glimmer- 
ing amidst  the  profound  darkness  which  enveloped 
the  ancient  world,  and  demonstrate  that  the  condition 
of  the  science  charged  with  watching  over  the  pre- 
servation of  health  was  nearly  the  same  amongst  all 
the  first  people  of  the  earth.  Closely  connected  with 
the  adoration  of  the  gods,  it  was  itself  everywhere 
a  species  of  secret  and  mysterious  worship.  Left 
exclusively  to  the  priests,  it  was  with  the  Egyptians 
as  with  the  Greeks,  with  the  Eomans  as  with  the 
Hindoos,  a  tissue  of  absurd  juggleries,  a  system  of 


SERVICES  OF  PYTHAGORAS  TO  MEDICINE.       87 

more  or  less  refined  imposture,  by  aid  of  which  the 
ministers  of  religion  amused  themselves  with  the 
credulity  of  the  profane. 

The  Greeks  were  the  only  nation  in  whose  temples 
the  dignity  of  medicine  was  not  entirely  overlooked, 
and  although  the  priests  might  equally  seek  to  de- 
ceive the  people  by  oracles,  they  were  compelled  to 
improve  the  science  by  attentively  observing  the 
operations  of  nature,  and  by  profiting  with  discern- 
ment from  the  votive  tablets  of  the  sick.  ^N'o  per- 
son, however,  had  given  any  satisfactory  explanation 
of  these  natural  effects,  because  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians, Israelites,  Greeks,  and  Eomans,  adoring,  with 
perfect  confidence,  the  gods  whose  worship  their 
fathers  had  introduced,  and  attributing  all  natural 
phenomena  to  the  absolute  and  immediate  pleasure 
of  these  divinities,  regarded  every  ulterior  research 
as  useless  and  superfluous. 

Two  great  reasons  induce  us  to  assign  to  Pytha- 
goras (580-489  B.C.)  and  his  school  a  distinguished 
place  in  the  history  of  medicine.  First,  he  rendered 
important  services  to  physiology  by  directing  the 
attention  of  his  disciples  to  the  explanation  of  the 
functions  and  phenomena  which  are  observable  in 
man  when  in  a  state  of  health;  and  secondly,  he 
acted  with  considerable  wisdom  in  rendering  medi- 
cine serviceable  to  the  progress  of  legislation  and 
the  art  of  governing,  it  having,  as  has  been  already 
seen,  formed  prior  to  his  time  a  part  of  the  divine 
worship.  Writers  worthy  of  credit  speak  of  {he 
long  journeys  which  Pythagoras  made  into  foreign 
countries,  especially  into  Asia  Minor,  Phoenicia,  and 


88  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

Egypt.  It  is  a  matter  of  inquiry  whether  he  ob- 
tained his  philosophical  doctrine  from  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  last  country,  and  whether  he  learned  from 
the  priests  metempsychosis  and  the  several  other 
dogmas  which  he  subsequently  professed.  It  seems, 
however,  probable  that  he  borrowed  from  them  the 
use  of  several  medicines,  and  the  severe  rules  for  the 
preservation  of  health  which  he  established  among 
his  disciples ;  and  his  symbolical  language  also,  ac- 
cording to  Porphyrins,  was  absolutely  the  same  as 
the  sacred  dialect  of  Egypt. 

The  mildness  of  the  climate,  fertility  of  the  soil, 
and  vigor  and  robust  health  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Crotona  in  Grrsecia  Major,  determined  him,  when  he 
had  ended  his  voyages,  to  try  in  that  small  state 
whether  his  schemes  were  capable  of  being  put  into 
execution,  as  the  goverment  of  that  Grecian  colony 
seemed  to  be  the  most  susceptible  of  reform.  The 
mode  in  which  he  was  received  there  fully  answered 
his  expectations.  His  venerable  figure,  engaging 
manners,  and  irresistible  eloquence  gained  all  hearts, 
and  he  appeared  to  the  Crotonians  a  messenger 
from  the  gods.  Instead  of  undeceiving  them  in 
their  belief,  he  endeavored  to  keep  up  that  idea,  and, 
in  order  to  give  more  weight  to  his  institutions,  he 
made  them  pass  for  inspirations  from  heaven.  He 
himself  indeed,  according  to  Diodorus,  was  so  fi.lled 
with  the  grandeur  and  importance  of  his  objects, 
that  he  probably  believed  that  he  really  acted  through 
the  influence  of  the  divinity. 

This  society  was  composed  of  a  certain  number  of 
persons  assembled  together  for  receiving  instruction 
in  every  department  of  knowledge  with  which  he 


THE  DISCI  PL  ES  OF  P  YTHA  CORAS.  ^ 

was  acquainted,  and  in  concurring  with  liini  in  the 
execution  of  his  vast  projects.  His  disciples  lived 
in  the  most  perfect  union,  all  their  works  tending 
towards  that  consummation.  Every  hour  was  ap- 
propriated, and  each  duty  accurately  determined. 
The  whole  of  their  lives  was  devoted  to  preserving 
the  forces  of  the  body  and  soul  in  a  continual  state 
of  harmony,  and  to  the  shunning  of  the  least  infrac- 
tion of  the  rules  of  the  order,  and  the  least  error  in 
the  moral  and  physical  regimen  which  their  master 
had  prescribed  for  them.  To  arrive  more  certainly 
at  that  end,  they  lived  in  a  habitation  common  to 
all,  dressed  in  a  uniform  manner,  and  with  the 
linen  of  Egypt,  observed  the  greatest  cleanliness 
and  frequently  cut  the  hair,  shaved  and  used  baths, 
in  order  to  maintain  the  body  as  pure  as  the  soul. 
They  accustomed  themselves  to  certain  exercises, 
such  as  promenading,  wrestling,  running,  and  dan- 
cing. Sobriety  was  one  of  their  principal  obligations. 
1^0  example  of  strictness  similar  to  that  of  Pytha- 
o^oras  had  ever  been  witnessed  in  Greece,  as  res^arded 
the  choice  and  quantity  of  food.  Several  articles 
were  forbidden,  not  alone  because  he  believed  them 
to  be  dangerous,  but  because  the  voluptuous  inha- 
bitants of  Grsecia  Magna  abused  them,  or  because 
they  were  proscribed  in  the  sacrecl  mysteries  of  the 
Egyptians,  his  masters. 

Aliments  drawn  from  the  animal  kingdom  were 
not  all  interdicted  to  his  disciples.  Those  only  of 
which  they  could  not  make  use  were  fish  and  certain 
parts  of  other  animals,  which  probably  the  Egyp- 
tians excluded  also.  It  has  been  generally,  and  for 
a  long  period,  considered  that  the  Pythagoreans  did 


90  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

not  eat  beans,  and  several  different  explanations  have 
been  given  of  their  reasons  for  abstaining  from  them ; 
some  asserting  that  this  was  introduced  because 
beans  engender  wind,  which  oppresses  the  mind  and 
disturbs  its  functions,  others  believing  that  the 
cause  of  the  proscription  was  the  resemblance  of  a 
bean  to  one  of  the  organs  of  generation,  and  pre- 
tending that  it  was  a  symbol  of  the  laws  which 
interdicted  all  kinds  of  debauchery;  and  others, 
aofain,  considerino;  that  the  custom  owed  its  oris^in 
to  some  affinity  which  they  conceived  beans  to  bear 
to  the  human  body,  or  to  the  ojDinion  that  the  souls 
of  the  dead  transmigrated  into  that  legumen. 

A  modern  Pythagorean,  however,  Aristoxenus, 
affirms  that  the  Samian  philosopher  particularly 
recommended  beans  and  ate  them  frequently  himself, 
because  he  regarded  them  as  an  article  of  food .  easy 
of  digestion.  It  has  consequently  been  considered 
that  the  expression  "  abstain  thou  from  beans"  was 
of  a  political  meaning.  The  election  of  magis- 
trates took  place  by  a  sort  of  scrutiny,  for  which 
beans  were  employed ;  a  custom  which  existed  not  a 
very  long  time  ago  in  Holland.^    Diogenes  Laertius 

*  Horace  alludes  to  the  mode  of  conducting  elections  amongst 
the  Romans,  as  well  as  to  the  proscription  by  Pythagoras  of  the 
use  of  beans ;  of  the  latter  he  remarks  : — 

"  0,  quando  faba  Pythagoras  cognata  simulque 
Uncta  satis  pingui  ponentur  oluscula  lardo?" 

(Sat.  Lib.  2,  6,  63.) 

"Oh  when  shall  I  enrich  my  veins, 
Spite  of  Pythagoras,  with  beans  ? 
Or  live  luxurious  in  my  cottage 
On  bacon,  ham,  and  savory  pottage?" 

[Francis.) 


DIETETICS  OF  THE  PYTHAGOREANS.  9 1 

and  Porphyrius  consequently  conceive  that,  by  the 
expression  just  quoted,  Pythagoras  wished  to  warn 
his  disciples  not  to  search  after  honors,  in  order  that 
they  might  be  more  attached  to  his  order. 

He  accustomed  them  so  much  to  self-denial,  that 
when  they  were  tormented  w^ith  hunger,  he  placed 
before  them  the  most  delicate  dishes,  and  immedi- 
ately removed  them,  without  their  being  permitted 
to  touch  a  morsel.  His  precepts  regarding  sobriety 
and  moderation  in  the  pleasures  of  love  agreed 
perfectly  with  his  age  and  the  nation  in  which  he 
lived.  He  forbade  them,  especially,  to  addict  them- 
selves at  too  early  an  age  to  venereal  excesses,  and, 
in  order  to  remove  from  the  young  men  every 
voluptuous  idea,  he  wished  them  to  be  constantly 
occupied  either  with  works  of  the  mind  or  gym- 
nastic exercises.  The  Pythagoreans  were  warned 
against  giving  way  to  any  passion,  even  of  the  most 
innocent  nature,  such  as  effusions  of  joy,  for  fear  of 
disturbing  the  harmony  between  body  and  soul. 

To  this  unalterable  moral  tranquillity  they  joined 
exercises  of  piety,  founded  on  pretended  intimate 
relations  with  the  gods.  They  not  only  chanted 
hymns,  prayed,  and  offered  up  sacrifices,  but  also 
predicted  the  future  by  dreams  or  the  flight  of  birds, 
and  attempted  to  conjure  up  the  shades  of  their 
friends.  The  latter  qualities  procured  them  a  de- 
gree of  consideration  equal  and  even  superior  to 
that  of  the  priests,  who  were  almost  all  beneath 
them  both  in  piety  and  knowledge. 

With  the  psychological  ideas  of  Pythagoras  we 
have  not  much  to  do,  and  his  physiological  theories 


92  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

were  sufficiently  absurd.  He  pretended  that  the 
principle  of  life  resides  in  heat,  and  that  that  of 
locomotion  is  of  an  ethereal  nature,  or,  according 
to  the  expression  of  Aristotle,  of  an  aerial  character ; 
he  defined  health  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  primi- 
tive constitution,  and  disease  to  be  a  derangement 
of  such  organization.  Pythagoras  also  practised 
medicine,  but  we  may,  from  the  ruling  spirit  of  the 
age,  readily  form  an  idea  of  the  way  in  which  he 
exercised  it.  Up  to  that  period,  the  healing  art 
had  been  closely  connected  with  the  divinatory. 
The  priests  alone  had  cultivated  it  in  the  temples 
of  ^sculapius,  and  the  multitude  regarded  all  the 
cures  performed  by  them  as  the  immediate  effects 
of  the  divine  power,  or  as  miracles.  Pythagoras 
himself  had  acquired  his  knowledge  in  Egypt, 
where  magic,  the  divinatory  art,  the  interpretation 
of  dreams,  and  medicine  formed  one  and  the  same 
science.  These  circumstances  account  for  the  strange 
way  in  which  the  Pythagoreans  practised  medicine. 
Pythagoras  attributed  magical  virtues  to  plants, 
and  employed  them  in  the  treatment  of  diseases. 
Pliny  asserts  that  he  believed  the  vinegar  of  squills 
capable  of  lengthening  the  term  of  existence.  He 
considered  the  cabbage  to  be  possessed  of  many 
virtues,  recommended  aniseed  wine  against  the  bite 
of  the  scorpion,  and  fancied  that  aniseed,  held  in 
the  hand,  possessed  considerable  efficacy  in  epilepsy. 
Mustard  he  esteemed  a  most  penetrating  remedy, 
principally  affecting  the  head,  and  very  appropriate 
for  the  bites  of  serpents  and  scorpions.  The  Pytha- 
goreans  made  more  frequent  use  of  external   than 


THE  FIRST  COMPARATIVE  ANATOMIST.  93 

of  internal  remedies,  and  especially  of  fomentations 
and  ointments,  but  they  had  never  recourse  to  the 
great  operations  of  surgery,  or  even  to  incisions  and 
cauterization.  History,  however,  informs  us  that 
they  were  much  distinguished  for  their  skill  in  the 
treatment  of  internal  diseases.  In  fact,  the  Croton- 
ians  passed  for  the  most  experienced  physicians  of 
all  Greece. 

One  of  them,  who,  according  to  Diogenes,  had 
been  a  disciple  of  Pythagoras,  acquired  a  very 
brilliant  reputation.  This  was  Alcm^on,  the  son 
of  Pirithus.  Chalcidius  assures  us  that  he  was  a 
naturalist,  and  that  he  first  occupied  himself  with 
anatomy,  and  composed  several  writings  on  the 
structure  of  the  eye ;  but  that  commentator  lived 
at  too  late  a  date  for  his  evidence  to  be  regarded  as 
convincing.  Several  reasons,  which  have  been  already 
mentioned,  oppose  the  belief  that  they  could,  at  that 
time,  easily  dissect  human  bodies,  and  a  Pythagorean 
would  have  greater  scruples  than  any  other  indi- 
vidual. There  is  some  reason,  however,  for  believing 
that  AlcniBson  was  the  first  anatomist,  as  far  as  re- 
garded the  dissection  of  animals,  although  that  was 
also  contrary  to  the  principles  of  Pythagoras.  The 
opinion  of  his  having  been  the  first  comparative 
anatomist,  or  one  of  the  first,  is  strengthened  by 
the  circumstance  of  Aristotle  refuting  Alcmseon, 
who  had  asserted  that  goats  breathe  through  the 
ears,  and  it  has  since  been  imagined,  although  with 
very  insufficient  evidence,  that  he  must  have  known 
of  the  existence  of  the  Eustachian  tube,  which  ex- 
tends from  the  middle  ear  to  the  pharynx. 


94  HIST  OR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

The  animal  functions  and  those  of  generation 
appear  to  have  awakened  in  a  particular  manner 
the  attention  of  the  Pythagoreans.  Diogenes  and 
Clemens  Alexandrinus  assert  that  Alcmseon  wrote  a 
work  on  the  functions,  which  would  consequently  be 
the  most  ancient  treatise  on  physiology  known. 
Like  his  master  Pythagoras,  he  placed  the  seat  of 
the  reasonable  soul  in  the  brain,  and  regarded  the 
human  semen  as  an  emanation  from  that  organ. 
He  pretended  that  the  head  of  the  foetus  was  first 
developed,  because  it  is  the  seat  of  the  reasonable 
soul,  and  that  the  foetus  received  its  nourishment 
not  by  the  moutK  or  umbilical  cord,  but  from  the 
whole  surface  of  the  body,  absorbing  the  nutritive 
juices  like  a  sponge.  He  explained  in  the  same 
manner  the  nutrition  of  the  chick  in  ovo,  regarding 
the  white  as  the  milk  which  nourishes  the  yolk  and 
the  embryo  to  which  it  gives  birth. 

Empedocles  of  Agrigentum  (504-443  B.C.)  lived  at 
a  later  period  than  Alcmseon,  and  was  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  philosophers  of  the  Pythagorean  school, 
wandering,  however,  very  considerably  from  the  sys- 
tem of  his  master.  He  was,  like  the  majority  of  the 
sages  of  antiquity,  at  once  poet,  legislator,  physician, 
and  divine.  He  rendered  a  great  service  to  his 
native  city,  whose  inhabitants  had  given  themselves 
up  to  all  sorts  of  debauchery,  by  correcting  the  public 
manners,  changing  the  form  of  government,  and 
defending  the  cause  of  liberty,  after  the  example  of 
the  philosopher  of  Samos.  His  imposing  appearance 
and  miraculous  cures  caused  him  to  be  considered 
as  the  confidant  of  the  gods,  and  as  a  prophet  whose 


EMPEDOCLES  OF  AGRIGENTUM.  95 

power  extended  so  far  as  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
nature  and  to  stay  even  death. 

What  most  of  all  contributed  to  render  him  im- 
mortal was  the  ingenious  means  which  he  adopted 
for  arresting  the  severe  epidemics  occasioned  by  the 
sirocco,  a  hot,  suffocating  wind  which  prevailed  in 
those  parts.  This  consisted  in  closing  up  a  passage 
which  existed  between  two  mountains,  through 
which  the  wind  blew  with  the  greatest  fury.  Hence, 
he  received  the  epithet  of  oXi^av^iio^  or  "tamer  of  the 
wind."  During  a  tempest  which  broke  out  at  the 
time  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  he  saved  many  persons 
by  means  of  fumigations  and  fires.  Philostratus 
relates  what  would  be  another  brilliant  action  of 
this  philosopher  were  it  but  correct,  that  he  pre- 
vented the  total  ruin  of  Agrigentum,  by  putting  a 
stop  to  a  rain  which  menaced  the  city  with  inunda- 
tion. He  is  also  said  to  have  restored  to  life  a  female 
in  a  state  of  asphyxia  or  apparent  death,  who  had 
been  for  a  long  time  considered  dead. 

These  different  occurrences  and  several  other 
similar  ones  obtained  him  so  much  celebrity,  and 
inspired  him  with  so  much  vanity,  that  he  con- 
sidered himself  as  a  fit  companion  for  the  gods.  A 
great  portion  of  this  presumption,  however,  he 
owed  to  the  principles  of  the  Pythagoreans,  who 
regarded  themselves  as  the  equals  of  the  gods,  so 
soon  as  they  had  received  their  initiation.  Diodorus 
of  Ephesus  relates  a  remarkable  fact  of  this  philo- 
sopher. The  city  of  Selinus  was  ravaged  by  a 
pestilential  disease,  owing  to  the  exhalation  from 
the  stagnant  and  corrupt  waters  of  a  neighboring 


g6  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

river.  Empedocles  put  an  end  to  the  cause,  by 
conducting  a  river  of  pure  water  into  the  marsh, 
and  emptying  it  in  that  manner  of  all  the  stagnant 
water  which  it  contained.  Since  that  circumstance, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city  have  adored  him  as  a, 
beneficent  deity. 

The  opinion  most  generally  received  regarding 
the  death  of  this  philosopher  is  that  he  threw  him- 
self, from  pride,  into  ^tna,  or  that,  having  ap- 
proached too  near  the  crater  of  this  volcano,  he  fell 
in,  and  was  swallowed  up  by  the  flames.  At  the 
lower  termination  of  the  limits  of  perpetual  conge- 
lation on  ^tna,  at  the  present  day,  is  found  a  little 
plain  named  Fiano  del  frumento^  on  which  are  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  monument,  generally  known 
under  the  name  of  the  Philosopher's  Tower,  because 
tradition  assigns  it  as  the  residence  of  Empedocles. 

Empedocles  in  his  ideas  was  decidedly  a  mate- 
rialist, and  believed  that  everything  in  nature 
was  the  efl:ect  of  pure  chance.  He  was  of  opinion 
that,  as  the  universe  one  day  resulted  from  the  at- 
traction of  its  elements,  so  one  day  it  would  return 
to  chaos  in  consequence  of  their  disunion  or  re- 
pulsion, and  again  appear  after  an  incalculable 
lapse  of  time,  without  there  ever  being  any  inter- 
ruption between  these  alternations  of  creation  and 
destruction.  This  last  opinion  will  account  for  the 
ideas  of  Empedocles  respecting  the  production  of 
animals  from  accidental  causes,  or  what  has  been 
termed  equivocal  generation.  According  to  him, 
the  animal  body  is  not  regulated  by  necessary  laws, 
no  intelligent  being   presided  at  its   construction ; 


CURIOUS  PHYSIOLOGICAL   VIEWS.  97 

chance  alone  produced  it.  Empedocles  believed  that 
the  vertebrse  and  the  diflerent  joints  composing  the 
spine  resulted  from  the  distortion  or  fracture  of  one 
bone,  which  ran  at  first  the  whole  length  of  the  ver- 
tebral column.  He  attributed  the  formation  of  the 
abdominal  cavity  and  that  of  the  intestines  to  the 
sudden  and  rapid  passage  of  water  through  the 
body  at  the  moment  of  its  formation,  and  the  ex- 
ternal openings  of  the  nose  to  a  current  of  air, 
which  had  established  itself  from  the  interior  to 
the  exterior.  He  believed  also  that  animals  mis^ht 
spring  up  from  earth  when  it  had  warmed  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  for,  according  to  him,  it  was  but  neces- 
sary for  the  four  elements,  fire,  air,  earth,  and  water, 
to  meet  under  special  circumstances  in  order  to  pro- 
duce the  origin  and  formation  of  all  bodies. 

These  physiological  views  he  trusted  only  to  his 
most  intimate  pupils.  Openly,  he  made  use  of  ex- 
pressions which  were  within  the  conception  of  the 
vulgar,  and  accorded  with  their  social  prejudices. 
Thus,  like  the  lonians  and  Pythagoreans,  he  taught 
that  in  nature  everything  is  animated,  and  filled 
with  divinities;  that  consequently  the  soul  of  man 
is  identical,  not  only  with  the  gods,  but  also  with 
that  of  vegetables,  as  they  all,  without  distinction, 
emanate  from  the  general  soul  of  the  world.  He 
admitted  also  in  vegetables  a  soul  endowed  with 
the  same  powers  as  those  which  he  accorded  to 
the  soul  of  animals,  possessing  consequently  a  volun- 
tary faculty,  and  being  capable  of  feeling  joy  as 
well  as  grief;  in  this  respect,  however,  not  diftering 
from  the  Pythagoreans  in  general.  This  opinion  of 
7 


98  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

the  affinity  between  plants  and  animals  determined 
him  to  employ,  when  he  spoke  of  the  former,  the 
same  expressions  which  are  wont  to  be  used  when 
treating  of  the  latter.  Thus,  he  called  their  seed 
eggs,  and  their  fructification  gestation  and  preg- 
nancy. The  principal  difference  which  he  estab- 
lished between  them  was  that  the  organs  of  genera- 
tion were  united  in  the  same  individual  in  vegetables, 
in  place  of  being  distinct  and  separate  as  in  animals. 
He  compared  also  the  leaves  of  plants  to  the  hair  of 
the  mammalia,  the  feathers  of  birds,  and  the  scales 
of  fishes. 

The  principal  object  of  his  physiological  researches, 
as  well  as  of  those  of  his  contemporaries,  was  the  the- 
ory of  generation.  Already  there  reigned  amongst 
philosophers  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  relative  to 
this  theory,  and  all  those  who  were  desirous  of  dis- 
tinguishing themselves  made  a  point  of  embracing 
one  sect  or  another.  The  philosopher  of  Agrigentum 
asserted  that  the  embryo  is  not  the  product  of  the 
semen  of  one  part}^,  either  of  that  of  the  male  or  of 
that  of  the  female,  but  that  it  results  from  a  mix- 
ture of  each,  and  receives  the  form  of  the  father  or 
of  the  mother,  according  as  the  semen  of  the  one  or 
the  other  may  predominate,  or  according  as  the  im- 
agination of  the  mother  may  be  more  or  less  called 
into  action.  The  semen  of  each  sex  he  believed  to 
be  composed  of  different  parts,  between  which  there 
existed  a  mutual  attraction.  The  sex  he  conceived 
to  depend  solely  on  the  degree  of  heat  in  the  womb, 
the  infant  being  of  the  male  sex  if  the  semen  enter 
a  warm  uterus  or  womb,  and  of  the  female  if  the 


VISIONARY  THEORIES  OF  EMPEDOCLES.         99 

organ  which  receives  the  fluid  be  cold.  He  attribu- 
ted monsters  to  the  superabundance  or  want  of 
semen,  or  to  the  dispersion  or  erroneous  direction  of 
that  fluid,  and  twins  to  the  too  great  quantity  or 
dispersion  of  it. 

Inspection  of  some  foetuses  which  had  come  into 
the  world  before  their  time  had  probably  taught  him 
that  all  the  parts  of  the  embryo  are  developed  from 
the  thirty-sixth  to  the  forty-fourth  day,  and  he  ap- 
plied his  theory  to  the  mode  in  which  each  organ  is 
formed..  The  muscles,  according  to  him,  result  from 
a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  the  four  elements,  fire, 
earth,  air,  and  water;  the  tendons  from  a  super- 
abundance of  fire  and  earth ;  the  nails  from  exposure 
of  the  tendons  to  air ;  and  the  bones  from  a  pre- 
dominance of  earth  and  water.  In  a  similar  manner 
he  explained  the  formation  of  sweat  and  tears.  It 
was  Empedocles  who  first  gave  the  name  of  amnios 
to  the  membrane  which  incloses  the  foetus  and  to 
the  water  in  which  it  swims.  He  has  the  credit 
also  of  having  first  dissected  the  ear  with  accuracy. 

The  above  are  all  the  visionary  theories  of  Empe- 
docles which  need  be  detailed,  but,  although  visionary, 
they  are  highly  interesting  as  being  some  of  the  first 
dawns  of  medical  philosophy  and  characteristic  of 
the  times  in  which  they  were  conceived. 

Ancient  history  makes  also  mention  of  several 
other  successors  of  Pythagoras,  but  we  have  no 
examples  of  their  works  regarding  either  the  theory 
or  practice  of  medicine.  Pliny,  Diogenes,  and 
Eudoxus  mention  Epicharmus,  who  was  born  at  Cos, 
but  who  passed  his  life  in  Sicily.     He  wrote  several 


HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 


works  on  medicine,  which  no  longer  exist,  and  from 
which  no  author  has  given  extracts.  Tiraquel,  in- 
deed, asserts  that  his  productions  still  exist  in  the 
library  of  the  Vatican,  but  it  would  seem  that  this 
assertion  is  devoid  of  foundation. 

Anaxagoras  of  Clazomense  (B.  C.  500-428),  a 
cotemporary  of  Empedocles,  whose  strange  theory 
of  the  heavens  and  earth  being  made  of  stone  are 
well  known  and  have  been  celebrated  by  Butler  in 
his  Hudibras,  is  the  next  physician  worthy  of  notice. 
The  greatest  portion  of  his  physiological  observa- 
tions, like  those  of  most  others  about  that  period, 
are  concerning  generation.  He  believed  that  the 
embryo  or  foetus  proceeds  solely  from  the  paternal 
semen,  and  that  the  mother  provides  only  a  place  for 
its  development,  and  he  explained  the  reason  of  the 
diflerence  of  sexes  by  the  situation  which  the  child 
occupied  in  the  womb,  boys  being,  he  absurdly  enough 
says,  always  on  the  right  side  and  girls  always  on 
the  left.  Another  and  a  still  more  gross  absurdity, 
however,  is  his  belief  that  the  crow  and  the  ibis 
coupled  by  the  beak,  and  that  the  polecat  brought 
forth  its  young  through  the  mouth.  There  is  an- 
other of  his  opinions  of  a  pathological  nature,  which 
proves  how  common  the  belief  in  the  multiplicity 
of  bilious  diseases  was  even  in  those  days, — that  the 
bile,  by  passing  into  the  lungs,  air-vessels,  and  pleura, 
becomes  the  cause  of  acute  diseases.  Aristotle, 
however,  in  contradicting  this  assertion,  affirms,  and 
supports  his  affirmations  by  anatomical  observations, 
that  in  a  very  great  number  of  such  cases  the  bile 
is  not  found  to  predominate. 


NOTED  GREEK  PRACTITIONERS,  lOI 

Democritus  of  Abdera  (B.C.  494-404)  is  painted 
by  the  ancient  writers  of  Greece  in  nearly  the  same 
colors  as  Pythagoras.  He  had,  they  remark,  all  the 
powers  of  nature  at  his  disposal,  and  owed  his 
science  to  the  priests  of  Egypt.  Pliny  informs  us 
that  he  busied  himself  much  with  the  anatomy  of 
the  chameleon,  and  wrote  a  whole  book  on  that  rep- 
tile. His  physiological  theories  very  much  resembled 
those  of  Empedocles. 

There  were  some  other  theorists  about  this  time  as 
well  as  practitioners  of  medicine,  such  as  Hemelitus 
of  Ephesus,  Acron  of  Agrigentum,  Iccus  of  Taren- 
tum,  Herodicus  of  Selybria,  Euryphon,  and  Thales, 
but  their  theories  were  visionaiy  and  unworthy  of 
consideration.  Before  passing,  however,  to  a  period 
when  a  luminary  appeared  in  the  medical  world, 
who  is  fairly  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  the  father 
of  medicine,  and  whose  works  are  still  considered 
by  some  as  the  guiding  star,  by  whose  light  their 
theories  and  practice  are  regulated,  we  may  briefly 
refer  to  other  persons  who  devoted  themselves  about 
this  time  to  the  profession  of  physic,  and  who  were 
occasionally  remunerated  by  a  fixed  salary. 

Democedes  of  Crotona,  for  example,  was  retained 
at  the  court  of  the  Samian  tyrant,  Polycrates,  with 
an  allowance  of  two  talents  yearly.  Being  after- 
wards taken  prisoner,  and  carried  as  a  slave  into 
Persia,  he  acquired  great  reputation  by  curing  Da- 
rius of  a  sprained  foot  after  the  Egyptian  physicians 
had  failed ;  and  also  by  his  successful  treatment  of 
a  tumor  of  the  breast,  under  which  Atossa,  the 
daughter  of  Cyrus  and  wife  of  Darius,  had  labored 


I  o  2  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

for  a  considerable  period.  Such  practitioners,  from 
their  wandering  lives,  were  sometimes  called  ferio- 
deutai ;  of  this  class,  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
was  AcRON  of  Agrigentum,  the  contemporary  and 
rival  of  Empedocles.  According  to  Diogenes,  he 
was  the  author  of  some  books  on  medicine  and  die- 
tetics written  in  the  Doric  dialect,  and  signalized 
himself  at  Athens  at  the  time  of  the  great  plague 
by  introducing  the  i^ractice  of  fumigation,  and  thus 
affording  relief  to  many. 

The  gymnasia  of  ancient  Greece  seem  also  to  have 
contributed  to  the  improvement  of  the  healing  art. 
It  belonged  to  the  gymnasiarch  or  paloestrophylax  to 
regulate  the  regimen  of  the  youths  who  were  trained 
in  those  seminaries;  the  sub-directors  or  yvixva^oi 
treated  all  diseases  which  occurred ;  and  the  subal- 
terns or  bathers,  the  axfi^rat,  performed  bloodletting, 
administered  injections,  and  dressed  wounds,  ulcers, 
fractures,  and  other  surgical  cases.  Of  the  class  of 
gymnastic  physicians,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  was 
Herodicus  of  Selybria.  He  is  frequently  mentioned 
by  Hippocrates,  who  censures  him  for  extenuating 
his  patients  by  excessive  fatigue,  and  of  sometimes 
causing  their  death. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  we  have  so  little  infor- 
mation regarding  the  political  condition  of  the 
physicians  of  Greece.  All  that  we  know  must  be 
gathered  from  some  obscure  passages  in  various 
Greek  writers.  In  a  State  so  polished  as  that  of 
Athens,  the  physicians  would  necessarily  be  sub- 
jected to  certain  laws.  Plato  seems  to  insinuate 
that  at  his  time  the  Athenian  physicians,  as  formerly 


LAWS  AFFECTING  GREEK  PHYSICIANS.  103 

those  of  Egypt,  directed  the  treatment  of  their  dis- 
eases according  to  certain  precepts  marked  out  for 
them,  and  that  they  were  responsible  to  the  State  for 
all  the  deaths  occasioned  by  their  negligence.  A 
passage  of  Xenophon  also  proves  that  the  young 
men,  before  establishing  themselves  on  the  territory 
of  the  republic  of  Athens,  were  obliged  to  ask  per- 
mission in  a  public  discourse,  in  which  they  ex- 
plained the  manner  they  had  previously,  or  whether 
they  had  at  all,  practised,  and  proclaimed  by  whom 
they  had  been  instructed.  Hyginus  says  that  there 
existed  a  law  amongst  the  Athenians  forbidding 
slaves  to  exercise  medicine,  and  reserving  it  exclu- 
sively for  freemen. 

The  Greeks  had  in  their  pay  military  surgeons ; 
but  it  would  seem,  from  Xenophon,  that  they  were 
only  called  in  after  sanguinary  battles  to  dress  the 
wounded.  There  seems  also  some  reason  for  be- 
lievmo;  that  there  were  at  Athens  charlatans  who 
sold  their  nostrums  in  the  public  places.  Aristo- 
phanes introduces  in  one  of  his  comedies  a  person 
seeking  in  all  the  streets  and  shops  for  a  potion 
which  might  accelerate  the  delivery  of  a  pregnant 
woman.  The  aleiptai  or  physicians  sold  also  secret 
remedies  at  the  public  baths,  and  were  frequently 
consulted  in  cases  of  wounds,  &c. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  AGE  OF  HIPPOCRATES. 

Revoliition  in  medical  science — Important  era  in  the  liistory  of 
medicine — Biographical  sketch  of  Hippocrates — His  medical 
career — The  great  plague  at  Athens — Brilliant  cures — Authen- 
ticity of  his  works — Books  falsely  ascribed  to  him — His  undis- 
puted works — His  knowledge  and  views  on  anatomy,  physio- 
logy, semeiology,  pathology,  therapeutics,  surgery,  dietetics. 


The  first  year  of  the  80th  Olympiad  gave  birth 
to  Hippocrates  (B.C.  460-370),  the  second  of  that 
name,  who  was  destined  to  effect  a  greater  revolu- 
tion in  medical  science  than  had  previously  been 
accomplished,  and  whose  authority  continued  to  be 
regarded  with  almost  implicit  veneration  by  his 
successors  during  a  period  of  more  than  two  thou- 
sand years,  and  is  still  in  some  parts  of  the  Euro- 
pean continent,  especially,  looked  up  to  with  the 
greatest  deference  and  respect. 

"He  saw,"  says  M.  Cabanis,-  "that  too  much  and 
yet  not  enough  had  been  done  for  medicine,  and  he 
accordingly  separated  it  from  philosophy,  to  which 
it  had  never  been  united  by  its  true  and  reciprocal 
relation.  He  brought  the  science  back  again  into 
its   proper   channel,   that    of    rational    experience. 

*  Coup  d'CEil  sur  les  Reyolutions,  &c.,  de  la  Medecine. 


REVOLUTION  IN  MEDICAL  SCIENCE.  105 

However,  as  he  himself  observes,  he  introduced 
both  these  sciences  into  each  other,  for  he  considered 
them  as  inseparable ;  but  he  assigned  to  them  rela- 
tions which  were  altogether  new.  In  short,  he 
freed  medicine  from  false  theories,  and  formed  for  it 
new  and  solid  systems;  this  he,  with  justice,  said 
was  to  render  medicine  philosophical.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  elucidated  moral  and  natural  philosophy 
by  the  light  of  medical  science.  This  we  may,  with 
propriety,  call,  with  him,  the  introduction  of  one 
into  the  other.  The  new  spirit  of  improvement 
which  was  then  communicated  to  medicine  resem- 
bled a  sudden  light  that  dispels  the  phantoms  of 
darkness,  and  restores  to  bodies  their  proper  figure 
and  natural  color.  By  rejecting  the  errors  of  former 
ages,  Hippocrates  learned  more  fully  to  avail  him- 
self of  the  useful  part  of  their  labors.  The  connec- 
tion and  dependence  both  of  the  facts  which  had 
been  observed,  and  of  the  conclusions  which  had 
been  legitimately  deduced  from  their  comparison, 
were  now  perceived  with  a  degree  of  evidence,  which, 
till  then,  had  been  unknown.  All  the  discoveries 
were  certainly  not  yet  made,  but  from  that  moment 
inquirers  began  to  pursue  the  only  path  which  can 
conduct  to  them.  From  that  moment,  if  they  had 
been  able  to  preserve  themselves  from  delusion,  they 
would  have  possessed  sure  means  of  estimating,  with 
precision,  the  new  ideas  which  time  was  destined  to 
develop;  and  if  the  disciples  of  Hippocrates  had  un- 
derstood his  lessons  well,  they  might  have  laid  the 
foundation  of  that  analytical  philosophy,  by  the  aid 
of  which  the  human  mind  will  be  henceforth  enabled 


I  o  6  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

to  create  to  itself,  as  it  were,  daily  some  new  and 
improved  methods  of  advancement." 

Unfortunately,  however,  for  the  progress  of  the  art, 
the  disciples  of  Hippocrates  soon  wandered  from  the 
path  which  he  had  marked  out.  Instead  of  quietly 
and  carefully  watching  the  operations  of  nature,  they 
kept  inventing,  like  his  more  immediate  predecessors, 
to  whose  visionary  speculations  we  have  already  re- 
ferred, fanciful  hypotheses  to  explain  them,  and  in 
place  of  studying  assiduously  the  works  of  the 
master  whom  they  professed  to  worship,  thc}^  falsi- 
fied his  writings  in  order  to  make  them  meet  their 
own  particular  views;  so  that  it  has  hecome  a  mat- 
ter of  very  considerable  difficulty  to  distinguish  the 
genuine  from  the  spurious  compositions  which  have 
been  ascribed  to  the  father  of  medicine. 

Of  Hippocrates,  as  Dr.  Parr  has  correctly  observed ,  it 
is  difficult  to  speak  with  impartiality,  in  a  manner 
that  will  satisfy  his  warm  admirers,  or  those  who 
reject  everything  which  is  not  of  a  modern  era.  If 
we  look  at  him  as  a  physician,  when  medicine  had 
scarcely  escaped  from  the  trammels  of  superstition, 
the  refinements  of  philosophy,  or  the  dictates  of 
antiquated  tradition,  our  admiration  will  rise  almost 
to  enthusiasm,  for  we  shall  perceive  sound  judgment, 
accuracy  of  reasoning,  and  acuteness  of  observation 
superior  to  his  era  or  the  state  of  science  at  that 
period.  But  to  study  and  admire  Hippocrates  at 
this  time  is  very  difierent.  Science  has  opened 
newer  and  more  extensive  views ;  diseases  are  dis- 
tinguished with  greater  accuracy,  and  the  remedies, 
as  they  are   more   numerous,  may  be   more   appro- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKE TCH  OF  HIPPOCRA  TES.     i o 7 

priately  adapted  to  the  circumstances.  He  forms, 
however,  so  vast  a  space  in  the  history  of  medicine, 
that  a  detailed  notice  of  liimself  and  of  some  of  his 
doctrines  is  necessary  and  of  the  highest  interest. 

Hippocrates,  whose  science  and  skill  made  the 
aire  in  which  he  lived  memorable,  was  descended 
from  a  line  of  physicians,  and  inherited  the  instruc- 
tions of  his  father  and  grandfather,  who  were  them- 
selves descendants  of  the  Asclepiadse.  His  biography 
would  be  extremely  interesting,  had  it  been  trans- 
mitted to  us  by  authors  wholly  worthy  of  confidence, 
but  with  the  exception  of  some  fragments  preserved 
by  Soranus,  we  have  but  a  small  number  of  authentic 
accounts  reo-ardins:  the  circumstances  of  his  life. 
His  father  Heraclides  gave  him  the  first  part  of 
his  education,  and  probably  taught  him  the  art  of 
observing  diseases  as  they  presented  themselves  in 
the  temples,  and  the  mode  of  treating  them  as 
practised  by  the  Asclepiadse.  Herodicus  of  Selybria 
and  Gorgias  Leontinus  are  also  mentioned  as  having 
been  his  masters,  and,  according  to  others,  he  was  a 
disciple  of  Democritus  of  Abdera.  The  votive 
tablets  of  the  temples  of  ^sculapius  furnished 
Hippocrates  with  a  part  of  his  observations  on  the 
progress  and  nature  of  diseases.  Andreas  asserts 
that  he  reduced  the  temple  at  Cos  to  ashes,  in  order 
to  prove  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  semeiological 
observations  which  he  has  given,  but  in  this  there 
is  not  the  least  shade  of  probability,  as  no  other 
author  has  made  any  mention  of  the  act,  and  it 
could  not  have  failed  to  produce  a  considerable  sen- 
sation at  the  time,  so  considerable,  indeed,  as  not 


io8  HIST  OR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

to  have  been  passed  over  in  silence.  ]S'or  could  it  be 
conceived,  supposing  it  were  true,  how  Hippocrates, 
after  such  an  act,  could  have  preserved  himself  from 
the  fury  of  a  people  who  vowed  implacable  hatred 
to  the  despoilers  of  their  temples. 

Soranus  asserts  that  Hippocrates  went  to  the  court 
of  Perdiccas,  king  of  Macedonia,  and  that  he  cured 
that  prince  of  a  consumption  occasioned  by  an  un- 
fortunate afiection  for  his  mother-in-law,  Phila,  a 
fact  which  is  not  controverted  by  chronology,  as 
Perdiccas  the  Second  did  not  mount  the  throne 
until  the  fourth  year  of  the  87th  Olympiad,  a  time 
when  Hippocrates  was  enjoying  his  greatest  celeb- 
rity ;  but  what  makes  it  a  little  suspicious  is,  that 
history  relates  a  similar  circumstance  to  have  oc- 
curred at  the  court  of  Seleucus  JS'icator.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  he  passed  some  time  at  the  court  of 
Perdiccas,  as  Pella,  Olynthus,  and  Acanthus  are  all 
situated  in  Macedonia,  at  which  place  he  is  asserted 
to  have  observed  several  diseases.  He  appears  to 
have  resided  a  long  time  in  Thrace  with  the  Edonians, 
for  he  frequently  speaks,  in  his  book  on  Epidemics, 
of  the  towns  of  Abdera,  Datus,  Doriscus,  (Enus,  and 
Cardia,  situated  in  Thrace  or  on  the  isle  of  Thasos. 
It  may  likewise  be  conjectured  that  he  travelled 
into  Scythia,  and  into  the  country  surrounding  the 
kingdom  of  Pontus  and  the  Palus  Mseotides,  for  he 
gives  a  faithful  picture  of  the  manners  and  mode 
of  life  of  the  Scythians. 

The  same  Soranus  remarks  that  Hippocrates  de- 
livered Athens,  Abdera,  and  Ill3'ria  from  a  plague 
which  occasioned  great  ravages.    This  cannot  refer  to 


PUBLIC  SER  VICES  OF  HIPP  OCR  A  TES.  1 09 

the  terrible  plague  at  Athens,  which  occurred  during 
the  Peloponnesian  war,  as  Thucjdides,  who  has  given 
a  full  account  of  that  epidemic,  of  which  he  was  an 
eye-witness,  makes  no  mention  of  Hippocrates,  and, 
on  the  contrary,  expressly  asserts  that  the  skill  of  the 
physicians  failed  in  it,  as  well  as  in  all  those  diseases 
the  knowledge  of  which  the  gods  had  revealed  to 
man.  Soranus  goes  on  to  observe  that,  in  consequence 
of  the  above  circumstance,  the  Athenians  out  of 
gratitude  initiated  him  in  the  mysteries  of  Ceres, 
according  him  the  right  of  citizenship,  and  directing 
that  he  should  be  feasted,  as  well  as  his  descendants, 
in  the  Prytaneum,  where  all  those  who  had  rendered 
a  service  to  their  country  were  entertained.  Galen 
also  refers  to  the  circumstance  of  his  arresting  the 
epidemic,  and  adds  that  Hippocrates  caused  fires  to 
be  burnt  as  well  as  aromatics,  over  the  whole 
city,  in  order  to  purify  the  atmosphere,  which  he 
observes  perfectly  succeeded  and  arrested  the  disease, 
so  that  the  epidemic  mentioned  by  Soranus  and 
Galen  cannot  have  been  identical  with  that  referred 
to  by  Thucydides.  In  another  place,  Galen  holds 
that  Hippocrates  practised  the  healing  art  amongst 
the  Athenians,  supporting  his  assertion  by  the  case 
of  a  patient  who  dwelt  in  the  market  of  Cecrops. 

Amongst  the  most  brilliant  cures  ascribed  to 
Hippocrates  is  that  of  Democritus  of  Abdera,  whom 
he  took  under  his  care  at  the  request  of  the 
Abderites.  Soranus  confines  himself  to  observing, 
that,  having  cured  the  philosopher  of  his  insanity, 
he  returned  to  the  town  of  Abdera,  having  rendered 
it  as  great  a  service  as  if  he  had  delivered  it  from 


HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 


the  plague.  Tzetzes,  however,  adds  that  the  in- 
habitants, full  of  gratitude,  oflered  him  ten  talents, 
but  that,  the  conversation  which  he  had  with 
Democritus  having  proved  the  Abderite  to  be  the 
wisest  of  all  men,  he  refused  the  same,  thanking  the 
Abderites,  on  quitting  them,  for  having  made  him 
acquainted  with  so  great  a  philosopher. 

The  last  years  of  his  life  this  illustrious  physician 
passed  in  Thessaly,  more  especially  at  Larissa, 
Cranon,  Pher?e,  Tricca,  and  Melibcea,  as  proved  by 
the  observations  which  he  made  regarding  the  dis- 
eases of  those  different  towns.  Soranus  asserts, 
also,  that  he  succeeded  in  arming  the  Thessalians 
in  favor  of  his  countrymen,  when  the  Athenians 
declared  w^ar  against  the  inhabitants  of  Cos  and 
attacked  them.  According  to  the  same  author  he 
died  at  Larissa  in  the  99th  year  of  his  age,  and  a 
long  time  after  his  death  his  grave  was  to  be  seen 
between  that  town  and  Gyrtona. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  for  the  sake  of  the 
science  that  we  have  no  certainty  respecting  the 
authenticity  of  several  of  the  works  which  have  been 
published  as  those  of  Hippocrates.  The  ancients 
themselves  questioned  the  authenticity  of  a  multi- 
tude of  writings  ascribed  to  the  son  of  Heraclides, 
and  many  of  them  were  attributed  to  his  relatives,  but 
frequently  they  were  uncertain  to  whom  to  give  the 
credit,  and  fixed  them  almost  indiscriminately  on  the 
different  members  of  the  family  of  Hippocrates. 
Hippocrates,  the  son  of  Heraclides,  lived  at  a  period 
when  paper  was  uncommon  amongst  the  Greeks. 
They  were  acquainted,  it  is  true,  with  the  papyrus, 


THE   WORKS  OF  HIPP  OCR  A  TES.  1 1 1 

wliich  the  Greek  colonists  in  Egypt  had  learned  to 
prepare  after  the  reign  of  Amasis,  but  the  use  of 
paper  was  by  no  means  common  in  Greece  until  the 
time  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Hippocrates  therefore 
wrote  his  observations  in  a  very  concise  style  on 
tablets  covered  with  wax,  or  on  the  skins  of  animals. 
Several  of  these  collections  were  not  intended  for 
the  public  eye,  but  were  kept  for  his  own  private 
use.  His  two  sons,  however,  Thessalus  and  Dracon, 
and  his  son-in-law  Polybus,  who  adopted  the  princi- 
]3les  of  the  modern  sects,  falsified  his  writings, 
changing  their  arrangement,  making  interpolations, 
and  endeavoring  to  elucidate  obscure  passages  by 
additions  of  their  own. 

The  greatest  disorder  also  took  place  when  the 
Ptolemies,  after  the  example  of  Aristotle  who  col- 
lected the  first  large  library,  founded  several  collec- 
tions of  books,  and  amongst  others  that  of  Alexan- 
dria, and  forbade  the  exportation  of  paper  in  order 
that  they  might  procure  for  themselves  a  greater  num- 
ber of  copies  of  the  works  of  the  ancients.  Hence, 
numerous  mercenary  individuals  profited  by  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  either  by  selling 
to  them  the  writings  of  the  other  Hippocrates  under 
the  name  of  the  most  celebrated,  or  by  adding  to 
the  writings  of  Hippocrates  their  own  productions, 
satisfied  that  the  Ptolemies,  who  were  ambitious  of 
forming  a  richer  library  than  that  of  the  kings  of 
Pergamus,  would  readily  take  without  examination 
everything  which  was  ofiTered  to  them. 

To  distinguish  the  real  works  of  Hippocrates  has 
hence  been  a  problem  of  very  considerable  difiiculty. 


1 1 2  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

The  literati  of  Alexandria  were  extremely  doubtful, 
even  at  that  time,  of  their  authenticity,  and  en- 
deavored to  select  the  true  from  the  false.  At  the 
expiration  of  five  hundred  years,  also,  the  task  was 
attempted  by  Galen,  who,  with  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  what  the  successors  of  HijDpocrates  had  written, 
possessed  a  discriminating  genius  and  critical  dis- 
cernment of  the  style  and  manner  of  the  Coan  sage, 
which  peculiarly  fitted  him  for  the  task.  .  Mercu- 
rialis,  too,  a  man  of  very  extensive  erudition,  and 
Haller,  a  physician  of  the  first  literary  eminence, 
as  well  as  Gruner,  have  all  labored  in  the  same 
field,  assuming  as  a  principle  that  Hippocrates  was 
a  man  of  singular  abilities,  extensive  information, 
and  consummate  candor  and  modesty.  By  these 
tests,  although  as  uncertain  as  it  is  possible  to 
imagine,  they  have  tried  every  imputed  work. 

The  undisputed  works  of  Hippocrates  are  said  to 
be  the  first  and  third  book  of  Epidemics^  two  books 
of  the  Frcenotiones  (a  difterent  work  from  the  FrcB- 
notiones  Coacce,  published  by  Elzevir  in  1660,  by 
Duretus  at  Paris,  and  with  commentaries  by  Holle- 
rius  at  Ley  den,  which  is  considered  to  be  certainly 
spurious)  containing  the  Prognostica  and  the  second 
book  of  the  Frorrhetica ;  De  Dmta  in  Acutis ; 
Aphorismi ;  De  Aere^  Aqiiis  et  Locis ;  De  Natura 
Hominis  ;  De  Huraorihus  Purgandis ;  De  Alimento  ; 
De  Articidis  ;  De  Fractiiris  ;  De  Capitis  Vulneribiis  ; 
De  Officina  Medici ;  and  De  Locis  in  Homine.  This  is 
nearly  the  enumeration  of  Haller,  but  even  the  au- 
thenticity of  several  of  these  has  been  strongly 
called  in  question. 


THE   WRITINGS  OF  HIPPOCRATES.  113 


Even  the  disputed  works  of  Hippocrates  are,  how- 
ever, entitled  to  very  attentive  perusal  from  the 
information  they  give  respecting  the  mode  of  reason- 
ing and  practice  of  medicine  at  that  period.  The 
writings  of  Hippocrates,  as  Dr.  Parr  has  correctly 
observed — and  the  remark  may  be  extended  to  the 
whole  of  the  literature  of  medicine — merit  attention. 
"Where  the  title  of  doctor,"  he  proceeds,  "is  as- 
sumed merely  as  a  claim  to  receive  the  fee  of  a 
physician,  it  is  of  little  importance  whether  the 
practitioner  can  read,  the  world  is  contented  to  take 
his  talents  on  trust ;  but  the  man  who  claims  the 
rank  of  a  regular,  well-instructed  physician  should 
not  be  ignorant  of  the  opinions  of  Hippocrates  or 
of  the  state  of  physic  at  the  earliest  period  of 
recorded  observations.  He  will  derive  no  little  satis- 
faction from  the  candid  relation  of  facts,  whether 
favorable  or  otherwise,  and  from  the  firm,  undeviat- 
ing  integrity  which  seems  to  have  regulated  the 
conduct  of  this  father  of  medicine." 

Having  thus  briefly  sketched  the  life  of  the  Father 
of  Physic,  Hippocrates,  the  "divine  old  man,"  as  he 
has  been  denominated  by  some  writers,  and  pointed 
out  those  of  the  works  generally  attributed  to  him 
which  have  been  considered  authentic,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  an  acquaintance  with  the  state  of  physic  at 
the  earliest  period  of  recorded  observation,  and  espe- 
cially of  its  condition  at  the  time  of  Hippocrates, 
we  may  next  proceed  to  glean  some  particulars  of 
the  knowledge  of  that  distinguished  individual  in 
the  different  branches  which  comprise  the  science  of 
medicine. 
8 


1 1 4  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

First,  with  respect  to  his  acquaintance  with  ana- 
tomy, this  would  not  seem  to  have  been  considera- 
ble, and  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  he  had 
ever  acquired  it  by  regular  dissection.  Galen,  it  is 
true,  attributes  to  him  the  invention  of  scientific 
anatomy,  and  asserts  that  the  Asclepiad?e  were  at 
that  period  very  skilful  in  the  art ;  but  it  is  well 
known  that  at  the  time  of  Hippocrates  there  still 
existed  the  prejudice  of  interring  the  dead  with  the 
greatest  possible  celerity.  It  is  consequently  probable 
that  Hippocrates,  like  Empedocles,  AclniEeon,  and 
Democritus,  confined  himself  chiefly  to  the  dissec- 
tion of  animals.  Those  of  his  writings  which  bear 
the  stamp  of  authenticity  prove  in  fact  that,  with 
the  exception  of  a  tolerably  exact  knowledge  of 
osteology,  he  was  completely  ignorant  of  anatomy, 
or  at  least  had  but  a  very  vague  and  superficial 
knowledge  of  the  organization  of  the  human  body. 
Between  arteries  and  veins  Hippocrates  established 
no  difference.  He  called  them  collectively  <p?.f4',  and 
aprjjpt,';;  designated  with  him  the  trachea.  The  ner- 
vous system  was  not  more  known  to  him.  He  called 
without  distinction  tovo^  or  v^vs^ov  a  ligament  or  a 
nerve.  He  was  totally  ignorant  that  the  nerves 
are  the  conductors  of  the  sensations,  and  that  they 
arise  from  or  are  connected  with  the  brain. 

With  regard  to  his  theory  of  generation,  it  was 
quite  conformable  to  the  spirit  of  the  age.  He  re- 
garded the  accumulation  of  j^hlegm  in  the  womb  as 
the  cause  of  abortion.  The  sis^ns  which  he  men- 
tions  as  indicating  pregnancy  strongly  exhibit  the 
inaccuracy  of  his  ideas  regarding  the  organization 


HIS  PHYSIOL  0  GICAL   THE  OKIES.  1 1 5 


of  the  animal  frame.  He  believed  that  the  semen, 
secreted  by  the  right  testicle  passes  into  the  right 
side  of  the  uterus,  where  the  conception  is  of  the 
male  sex,  and  that  females  are  engendered  by  the 
semen  of  the  left  testicle  deposited  in  the  left  side 
of  that  viscus.  Hippocrates  was  so  convinced  of  the 
correctness  of  this  theory  that  he  pretended  to  have 
remarked  that  a  shrinkino;  of  the  rio-ht  breast  an- 
nounces  that  the  female  will  be  prematurely  de- 
livered of  a  boy,  whilst  a  sinking  of  the  left  denotes 
that  the  aborted  foetus  will  be  a  female.  He  also 
asserts  that  those  men  who  have  the  right  testicle 
larger  than  the  left  constantly  beget  male  children. 
He  was  of  opinion  that  the  complexion  of  the  female 
is  more  lively  and  animated  when  she  bears  a  boy 
than  when  she  is  pregnant  of  a  girl.  The  recipro- 
cal action  of  the  warm  and  cold  spirit  in  promoting 
the  growth  of  the  foetus,  which  he  mentions,  is  of 
course  wholly  imaginary.  The  soul,  he  supposes,  is 
drawn  in  with  the  air  and  communicated  through 
the  vessels  of  the  placenta  to  the  foetus. 

He  supposed  the  existence  of  four  fluids  in  the 
body, — blood,  phlegm,  and  yellow  and  black  bile. 
Their  common  source  he  ascribed  to  the  stomach, 
but  each  had  also  its  particular  origin, — the  blood 
from  the  heart,  phlegm  from  the  head,  yellow  bile 
from  the  gall-duct,  and  black  bile  from  the  spleen. 
The  last  organ,  in  his  opinion,  attracts  not  only  the 
black  bile,  but  water  also,  which  it  conveys  to  the, 
urinary  organs  or  to  the  belly. 

It  was  Hippocrates  who  first  fixed  the  three  gene- 
ral periods  or  stages  of  diseases,  those  of  crudity, 


1 1 6  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

concoction,  and  crisis,  believing  that  the  morbific 
matter  ought,  before  being  expelled  from  the  body, 
to  undergo  a  certain  elaboration.  The  signs  of  these 
three  periods  he  has  laid  down  with  considerable 
minuteness,  although  the  whole  theory  is  extremely 
visionary.  He  may,  however,  be  regarded  as  the  real 
inventor  of  the  art  of  prognosticating.  He  had  also 
observed  that  nature  is,  in  simple  diseases,  subjected 
to  certain  laws,  and  that  in  fevers,  more  especially, 
the  evacuation  of  the  morbific  matter  is  apt  to  take 
place  at  certain  and  regular  days.  These  days  he 
called  critical.,  the  principal  of  which  are,  according 
to  him,  the  fourth,  seventh,  eleventh,  fourteenth, 
seventeenth,  and  twentieth.  With  regard  to  these 
crises  themselves,  he  observed  them  to  happen  in  a 
variety  of  ways.  It  has  been  asserted  that  sweating 
was  not  ranged  amongst  them;  but  it  is  requisite 
only  to  cast  a  glance  over  his  writings  to  find  many 
cases  of  patients  reported  to  have  been  cured  by  cri- 
tical sweats. 

He  paid  much  attention  to  the  urine,  the  appear- 
ances of  which  in  general,  and  the  sediment  in 
particular,  he  regarded  as  very  important  signs  in 
diseases.  The  sediment  and  the  cloud  which  is  often 
visible  in  the  midst  of  the  fluid  were,  in  his  eyes, 
proofs  of  a  salutary  effort  of  nature.  He  noticed 
also,  ver}^  carefully,  the  marks  of  a  favorable  or  un- 
favorable termination  in  the  stools,  the  sputa,  the 
coating  of  the  tongue,  &c.,  although  the  appearance 
of  the  patient,  the  state  of  his  eyes,  the  color  and 
temperature  of  his  body,  the  augmentation  or  dimi- 


HIS  VIE  WS  ON  DIE  TE  TICS.  i  j  7 


nution  of  his  bulk,  the  functions  of  resiDiration  and 
of  the  intellect,  &c.,  were  very  diligently  attended  to. 

The  practice  of  Hippocrates  must  be  divided  into 
his  dietetic,  his  medical,  and  his  surgical.  The  chief 
dietetic  work  under  his  name  is  attributed  by  the 
critics  to  Polybus,  his  son-in-law,  but  there  is  much 
reason  to  think  that  the  rules  are  derived  from  him- 
self. His  first  precept  is  to  continue  those  exercises 
which  are  not  found  to  be  absolutely  hurtful.  He 
who  has  contracted  a  habit  of  some  duration  had 
always  better  follow  it,  even  when  it  is  contrary  to 
health,  than  abandon  it  for  another,  and  especially 
than  abandon  it  suddenly.  Every  too  rapid  change 
in  the  manner  of  living  is  prejudicial  to  the  body, 
which  renders  it  requisite  to  pass  gradually  from 
one  change  to  another.  Excesses  of  all  kinds  are 
dangerous — sleeping  and  waking,  motion  and  rest, 
nourishment  and  evacuation,  ought  never  to  trans- 
gress the  limits  marked  out  by  nature.  Those  who 
are  in  perfect  health  should  abstain  from  all  kinds 
of  medicine.  Purgatives  he  asserts  to  be  those  which 
individuals  bear  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  Too 
strict  a  regimen  is  always  more  noxious,  in  a  state 
of  health,  than  a  freer  and  less  regular  mode  of 
living,  because,  in  the  former  case,  the  least  wander- 
ing from  or  forgetfulness  of  the  laws  imposed  upon 
the  individual  may  induce  unpleasant  consequences. 

It  is  to  the  Coan  sage  that  we  are  indebted  for 
the  first  notions  regarding  the  regimen  to  which 
patients  should  be  subjected  in  acute  affections. 
His  principal  object  in  those  cases  was  always  to 
assist  concoction  by  cooling  and  diluent  drinks,  or 


1 1 8  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

by  other  similar  means.  As  the  humors  he  con- 
sidered undergo  some  change  in  all  acute  diseases, 
and  as  nature,  in  elaborating  them,  endeavors  to 
render  them  fit  for  being  evacuated,  it  is  necessar^^ 
to  avoid  interrupting  her  endeavors  by  diverting 
her  powers  for  the  purpose  of  converting  them  to 
the  digestion  of  alimentary  substances.  Hence  the 
following  important  precepts  of  the  physician  of 
Cos:  "The  more  we  nourish  an  unhealthy  body, 
the  more  we  injure  it.  Nothing  should  be  given  to 
the  patient  whilst  the  affection  is  increasing,  and 
especially  towards  the  time  when  the  crisis  is  on  the 
point  of  occurring.  We  ought,  without  delay,  to 
prescribe  a  very  spare  diet  when  the  violence  of  the 
fever  is  extreme  at  the  commencement,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  examine  into  the  strength  of  the 
patient,  to  satisfy  ourselves  whether  he  be  in  a  state 
to  bear  a  privation  of  food  until  the  time  when  the 
affection  may  arrive  at  its  highest  point  of  intensity. 
The  quantity  of  nutritive  matters  ought  to  be  in- 
creased with  very  great  circumspection  ;  frequently, 
total  abstinence  produces  the  best  effects  when  the 
patient  is  sufiiciently  strong  to  bear  it  during  the 
whole  course  of  the  fever;  but  in  the  application 
of  those  rules,  attention  must  always  be  paid  to  the 
degree  of  violence  of  the  affection,  its  progress,  the 
constitution  of  the  patient,  and  the  habits  contracted 
both  with  regard  to  meat  and  drink."  In  the  same 
book,  the  author  exposes  the  precautions  which 
should  be  taken  when  we  are  about  to  alter  the  cus- 
tomary regimen  of  patients,  and  lays  down  some 
excellent  precepts,  the  observance  of  which  he  re- 


HIS  TREA  TMENT  OF  FE  VERS.  1 1 9 


commends  to  those  who  would  pass  from  a  severe 
regimen  to  one  less  strict,  and  vice  versa. 

The  utility  of  diluents  in  all  fevers  is  a  principle 
first  noticed  by  Hippocrates,  and  which  even  at  the 
present  day  is  almost  universally  adopted  with  some 
slight  modifications.  As  for  his  practical  precepts, 
notwithstanding  their  excellence,  several  authors 
have  pretended  that  he  knew  not  how  to  apply  them, 
from  a  considerable  number  of  the  diseases  described 
in  his  book  on  Epidemics  having  had  a  fatal  issue. 
This,  however,  ought  rather  to  be  esteemed  a  mark 
of  his  extreme  candor.  In  medicine,  as  is  well  known, 
the  correctness  of  the  mode  of  treatment  cannot 
always  be  appreciated  by  the  results.  The  object  of 
the  practitioner,  according  to  Hippocrates,  ought 
always  to  be  to  carefully  observe  and  assist  the  pro- 
gress of  nature.  A  phj^sician  as  attentive  as  was 
the  Father  of  Physic  could  not  have  failed  to  ob- 
serve that  there  is  an  effort  of  nature  which  generally 
tends  to  the  re-establishment  of  health,  although  a 
cure  may  not  always  follow ;  and  it  was  in  consequence 
of  such  observation  that  the  axiom  contained  in 
the  sixth  bopk  of  his  Epidemics  was  promulgated — 
^'•Nature  is  the  first  of  ijhysicians.''''  Dividing  acute 
diseases  into  three  periods,  he  made  it  a  point  to 
observe  with  the  greatest  care  the  powers  of 
nature  in  each  of  those  periods,  of  stimulating  when 
they  seemed  to  him  insufi3.cient,  and  of  moderating 
them  when  they  were  superabundant. 

He  never  interfered  with  what  he  considered  to 
be  salutary  efforts,  but  endeavored,  on  the  contrary, 
as  much  as  he  could,  to  favor  them.     On  this  account, 


I20  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

in  acute  diseases,  and  especially  at  their  commence- 
ment, he  did  not  prescribe  evacuation  until  he  had 
noticed,  or  fancied  he  had  noticed,  manifest  signs 
that  the  morbific  principle  might  be  expelled.  His 
endeavors  were  directed  only  to  evacuating  the 
matters  elaborated  by  concoction,  and  during  the 
period  of  crudity,  as  he  termed  it,  he  occupied  him- 
self with  moistening  all  the  passages,  in  order  to 
accelerate  the  elaboration  of  the  principle  of  the 
disease.  In  acute  diseases,  when  the  aifection  was 
at  its  highest  point,  and  the  paroxysm  at  its  greatest 
intensity,  he  confined  himself  to  attentive  observa- 
tion, but  if  any  unpleasant  symptom  occurred,  he 
attacked  it  according  to  the  indications  which  might 
present  themselves. 

Hippocrates,  however,  did  not  confine  himself  to 
a  blind  pursuance  of  the  indications  of  nature;  on 
the  contrary,  having  remarked  that,  in  general,  dis- 
eases are  relieved  as  soon  as  the  matter  engendered 
during  the  course  of  the  affection  is  expelled,  he 
endeavored  to  evacuate  the  humors  when  they  had 
undergone  a  particular  alteration,  but  never  before 
he  was  persuaded  that  they  were  sufficiently  elabo- 
rated. Occasionally,  therefore,  his  principal  object 
was  to  produce  efiects  opposite  to  those  of  nature. 
He  bled  when  he  noticed  a  state  of  fulness  of  the 
vessels,  and  endeavored  to  replenish  them  when  he 
perceived  that  they  were  empty.  The  axiom  contra- 
ria  contrariis  opponenda  was  not  so  universal  a  rule 
in  medicine  as  has  been  pretended;  it  was  always 
subordinate  to  the  general  maxim  of  following  and 
imitating  nature.     Some  of  the  modes  of  practice 


HIS   VIE  WS  ON  BI O  ODLE  TTING.  1 2 1 

pursued  by  Hippocrates  will  have  elucidated  this 
remark. 

He  generally  practised  bloodletting  in  acute  dis- 
eases, where  the  patient  was  young  and  robust. 
His  principal  intention  in  having  recourse  to  this 
operation  seeming  to  have  been  to  diminish  the  ir- 
regularity of  the  febrile  movements  and  to  accelerate 
concoction,  he  on  this  account  almost  always  pre- 
scribed it  during  the  first  stage.  He  paid  no  regard 
to  the  day  of  the  disease,  but  was  guided  by  the 
violence  of  the  attack.  In'  the  majority  of  cases, 
he  recommended  the  bloodletting  to  be  made  as 
near  as  possible  to  the  seat  of  the  disease,  but  in 
determining  the  place  where  the  vein  should  be 
opened,  he  was  guided  by  his  erroneous  ideas  of  the 
distribution  of  the  vessels  in  the  human  frame.  Thus, 
it  was  necessary  to  open  the  inner  vein  of  the  arm 
in  ischuria  or  suppression  of  urine,  and  the  basilic 
in  pleurisy.  He  recommended,  with  propriety,  and 
the  practice  in  some  cases  has  been  at  various  times 
revived,  bloodletting  in  dropsy,  when  the  patient 
was  young  and  plethoric,  and  when  the  affection 
occurred  in  the  spring  time.  The  quantity  of 
blood  to  be  drawn  was  regulated  by  the  severity  of 
the  symptoms,  and  frequently,  when  circumstances 
seemed  to  demand  it,  the  bleedings  were  so  copious 
as  to  produce  syncope  or  fainting. 

The  rules  to  be  followed  for  evacuating  the  crudities 
contained  in  ih^  "primm  vice,  are  indicated  with  con- 
siderable precision.  Regard  was  to  be  paid  to  the 
climate,  season,  atmospherical  constitution,  age  of  the 
patient,  and  nature  of  the  affection,  in  order  to  judge 


HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 


whether  the  evacuation  would  be  salutary  or  hurt- 
ful. Evacuation,  and  especially  by  purging,  he  incul- 
cated ought  never  to  be  too  copious,  as  under  such 
circumstances  it  is  always  dangerous. 

His  purgatives  were  all  drawn  from  the  class  of 
drastics  ;  for  in  his  time  there  were  none  known  but 
the  veratrum  album  or  white  hellebore,  the  peplain, 
— supposed  to  be  an  extract  of  euphorbium, — the 
seeds  of  the  amanta  cretensis,  the  root  of  the  thapsia, 
the  seeds  of  the  daphne  laureola,  and  the  flowers  and 
seeds  of  the  carthamus  or  bastard  saflron.  They 
were  also  used  as  emetics ;  but  Hippocrates  seems 
to  have  employed  them  in  many  cases  without 
having  had  anj^  intention  of  particularly  provoking 
either  vomiting  or  purging.  He  was  satisfied  if  they 
occasioned  either  one  evacuation  or  the  other.  When 
he  was  desirous  of  purging  gently,  he  ordered  asses' 
milk,the  juice  of  the  herb  mercurialis,  the  leaves  of 
elder,  or  a  decoction  of  beet-root  with  salt  and  honey. 
As  adjuvants  to  these,  he  employed  clysters  and 
suppositories.  In  general,  he  used  purgatives  in 
chronic  diseases,  but  he  certainly  employed  them  in 
acute  ones  more  freely  than  the  greater  number  of 
modern  practitioners.  The  diuretics  prescribed  by 
Hippocrates  were  the  leek,  onion,  mercurialis,  wild 
parsley,  &c.,  with  wine  and  honey  largely  diluted, 
and  sometimes  the  warm  bath.  Cantharides,  how- 
ever, he  ordered  also  in  dropsies.  He  endeavored  to 
favor  expectoration  indirectly  b}^  fomentations  and 
the  copious  use  of  drinks  prepared  with  groats  and 
acidulated  with  oxymel, — a  composition  of  honey  and 
vinegar.     He  made  use  of  the  same  means  for  excit- 


SUR  GER  V  OF  THE  CO  AN  SA  GE.  123 


ing  perspiration.  In  many  circumstances,  however, 
he  necessarily  treated  diseases  in  a  purely  empirical 
manner,  without  acting  according  to  any  rational 
indication. 

The  majority  of  his  remedies  were  obtained  from 
the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  with  the  exception  of  alum 
and  some  preparations  of  copper  and  lead,  he  em- 
ployed only  plants,  for  pharmacy,  or  the  art  of  pre- 
paring compound  medicines,  was  very  rude  in  his 
time.  In  order  to  diminish,  for  example,  the  acri- 
dity of  the  juice  of  euphorbium,  it  was  poured,  drop 
by  drop,  on  dried  figs,  and  in  this  manner  we  are 
told  a  very  useful  remedy  for  dropsy  was  manufac- 
tured. It  would  be  idle  to  look  in  the  writings  of 
Hippocrates  for  the  least  traces  of  chemistr}^,  the 
origin  of  that  science,  properly  so  called,  not  having 
taken  place  for  several  years  after  this  period. 

The  Coan  sage  enriched  surgery  with  a  consider- 
able number  of  new  observations  and  with  several 
operations.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  inven- 
tor of  the  art  of  applying  bandages.  In  all  severe 
wounds  he  ordered  rest,  prescribed  a  strict  regimen, 
and  recommended  the  limb  to  be  placed  in  the  easiest 
position.  He  permitted  the  blood  to  flow  copiously 
in  extensive  wounds  when  they  were  seated  on  the 
limbs  or  penetrated  the  cavities  of  the  body.  He 
rejected  oils  and  every  moist  application,  but  in 
certain  cases  employed  emollient  cataplasms.  He 
attributed  to  heat  considerable  eflicacy  in  the  cure 
of  wounds.  He  frequently  also  administered  eme- 
tics, especially  in  wounds  of  the  head,  having  ob- 


124  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

served  that  vomiting  in  sueli  cases  was  a  very  com- 
mon symptom. 

He  judged  evacuations  particularly  necessary  when 
the  wound  was  complicated  with  erysipelas,  of  which 
gastric  derangement  is  the  most  ordinary  cause. 
He  had  noticed  that  suppuration  is  inevitable  when 
the  wound  results  from  the  action  of  an  obtuse 
body.  In  his  work  on  wounds  of  the  head,  the  cir- 
cumstances which  require  the  application  of  the 
trepan  are  very  carefully  indicated.  Hippocrates 
employed,  for  this  operation,  two  different  instru- 
ments, one  of  which  resembled  the  trephine,  and  the 
other  the  common  trepan.  Before  applying  them 
the  integuments  were  raised  up,  and  the  bone  was 
scraped  with  a  scalpel  made  for  the  purpose,  in  order 
to  examine  into  its  condition.  In  the  same  book 
the  remark  is  made  that  pain  is  frequently  felt  in 
the  side  of  the  head  opposite  to  that  of  the  wound. 
He  also  penetrated  the  ribs  to  evacuate  water  from 
the  chest. 

In  cases  of  fracture,  extension  and  counter-exten- 
sion were  first  made,  afterwards  a  bandage  was  ap- 
plied, and  over  this  splints  moderately  tightened,  so 
that  they  might  compress  the  limb.  Ten  days  after  a 
fracture  of  the  forearm,  he  recommended  the  patient 
to  wear  a  slino-  when  he  beo-an  to  walk  about.  He 
mentions  also  the  time  at  which  fractures  are  com- 
monly consolidated,  but  has  not  omitted  to  remark 
that  the  age,  sex,  and  several  other  similar  circum- 
stances may  hasten  or  retard  the  formation  of  the 
callus.  The  machines  which  he  made  use  of  for 
reducino;  luxations  of  the  laro-e  articulations  were 


TENDENCY  OF  HIS  TEACHINGS.  125 


very  complicated ;  but  he  treated  in  a  very  simple 
manner  less  severe  dislocations.  His  observations 
regarding  distortion  of  the  feet,  both  outwardly  and 
inwardly,  are  particularly  worthy  of  attention.  He 
distinguishes  several  varieties  of  this  curvature,  de- 
scribes the  state  of  the  parts  with  all  the  exactness 
of  which  his  own  experience  rendered  him  capable, 
and  proposes  for  the  cure  an  apparatus  which  some- 
what resembles  one  of  much  more  modern  invention. 
The  revolution  wliich  he  caused  in  practical  me- 
dicine, semeiology,  pathology,  and  dietetics,  was  the 
more  important  from  the  plans  adopted  before  him 
by  the  Asclepiadee  and  the  philosophic  sects  being 
in  no  respect  adapted  for  the  improvement  of  the 
science.  He  taught  physicians  that  their  first  duty 
is  to  observe  attentively  the  progress  of  nature.  He 
demonstrated  the  inutility  of  theories,  and  proved 
that  observation  alone  is  the  basis  of  medicine.  The 
curative  art,  having  become,  from  his  example,  a 
science  of  experiment  and  of  facts,  ought  to  have 
made  the  most  rapid  progress.  If  the  route  traced 
and  pursued  by  Hippocrates  with  so  much  success 
had  continued  to  be  followed  up,  Grecian  medicine 
would  have  attained  in  a  short  time  a  degree  of 
perfection  of  which  we  can  scarcely  form  an  idea. 
These  brilliant  hopes  were  not,  however,  realized. 


CHAPTER  XIT. 

THE  IMMEDIATE  SUCCESSORS  OF  HIPPOCRATES. 

Founders  of  the  dogmatic  school — Liberal  yicM's  and  civilization 
of  the  time — Aristotle — His  views  on  anatomy,  physiology,  &c. 
— Theophrastus — Praxagoras  and  his  physiological  discoveries 
— The  term  arteries  first  employed — Medical  practice  of  the 
period — The  age  of  the  Ptolemies — The  library  of  Alexandria 
— Publication  of  doubtful  works,  interpolated  manuscripts, 
&c. — Medical  school  of  Alexandria — Herophilus  and  Erisis- 
tratus  ;  their  discoveries  and  views — Their  followers — Di- 
vision of  medicine  into  its  branches,  surgery,  pharmacy,  ttc. 
— The  surgeons  of  Alexandria  and  their  operations — Lithoto- 
mists — Surgical  apparatus — Prohibitions  to  young  surgeons. 

Simple  observation  was  repugnant  to  the  general 
spirit  of  the  age  in  which  Hippocrates  flourished, 
and  anatomy  served  only  to  conflrm  the  specula- 
tions and  theories  of  the  dogmatic  physicians;  for 
so  those  who  professed  to  tread  in  the  steps  of  Hip- 
pocrates were  termed. 

Thessalus,  Draco,  and  Polybus  were  the  foun- 
ders of  the  dogmatic  school,  but  they  soon  aban- 
doned the  principles  of  their  renowned  ancestor,  and 
the  science  veered  about  perpetually,  influenced 
b}'  the  different  philosophic  ideas  which  prevailed. 
Little  improvement  w^as  made  in  practice,  but  few 
innovations  occurred  in  physiology,  and  these  latter 
w^ere  chiefly  promulgated  by  Plato  (B.C.  430-348), 
whose  reveries   are   highly   entertaining ;    but   not 


ARISTOTLE.  127 


being  sufficiently  important,  we  may  pass  thera 
over,  and  proceed  to  the  doctrines  of  one  whose  fame 
far  eclipsed  that  of  the  medical  theorists  of  the  time, 
a  man  to  whom  every  branch  of  natural  science  was 
highly  indebted,  and  who  united  the  most  compre- 
hensive views  to  the  most  acute  genius  and  the  most 
unremitting  diligence. 

The  origin  of  natural  history  and  anatomy  is  very 
closely  allied  with  the  career  of  Aristotle  (B.C.  384- 
322).  The  expeditions  of  Alexander  the  Great  had 
more  influence  over  medicine,  and  particularly  over 
some  of  its  branches,  than  the  innumerable  theories 
of  the  philosophical  sects  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken.  The  civilization  of  the  Greeks  took  a  dif- 
ferent direction  from  that  which  it  had  previously 
foUoAved ;  and  although  it  had  been  generally  spread 
over  Athens  and  other  great  cities  of  Greece,  the 
greater  part  of  the  nation  had  not  lost  the  common 
prejudices  of  those  who  live  isolated  and  have  but 
a  limited  commerce  with  each  other.  They  con- 
tinued esjDecially  to  consider  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
as  sacred  and  inviolable  objects.  So  soon,  however, 
as  the  conquests  of  the  hero  of  Macedonia  had 
opened  to  Greece  the  ports  of  India,  Persia,  and 
Egypt,  and  multiplied  their  relations  with  the  whole 
of  the  East,  the  conflict  of  opinions  soon  diminished 
the  prejudices  and  silenced  the  voice  of  superstition. 
The  frequent  travels  of  philosophers  into  diflerent 
regions  of  their  own,  and  an  acquaintance  with  the 
opinions  adopted  by  the  sages  of  other  nations, 
taught  them  to  rectify  their  own  ideas,  and  showed 
them,  at  least,  that  Greece  was  not  the  only  part  of 


1 2  8  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

the  world  where  the  study  of  the  sciences  was  en- 
couraged. They  found,  indeed,  amongst  .foreigners 
prejudices  more  barbarous  and  injurious  than  their 
own;  but  that  discovery  afforded  them  an  excellent 
pretext  for  renouncing  a  portion  of  those  which 
blinded  their  own  countrymen. 

Commerce,  under  the  protection  of  Alexander, 
tended  also  considerably  to  the  progress  of  science. 
That  prince  rendered  Egypt  the  mart  of  the  then 
known  world,  and  opened  a  channel  to  the  rich  coun- 
tries of  India,  whence  Greece  subsequently  obtained 
so  many  valuable  drugs  and  objects  of  natural  his- 
tory. The  improvement  of  native  industry  and  the 
multiplication  of  the  means  of  existence  were  the 
results  of  the  fresh  activity  impressed  upon  com- 
merce. This  gave  rise  to  wealth,  which  in  its  turn 
aided  the  progress  of  science.  Alexander  himself 
fostered  the  sciences,  a  taste  for  which  he  had  ac- 
quired from  his  master  Aristotle. 

To  that  x^hilosopher  he  presented  ^ymphseum,  a 
country  situated  near  Mieza,  in  order  that  he  might 
devote  himself  in  tranquillity  to  the  study  of  nature. 
Plutarch  has  striven  to  show  that  the  son  of  Philip 
was  himself  a  philosopher,  but  his  conduct  proves 
him  to  have  been  merely  a  virtuoso.  According  to 
Gellius  he  exhibited  himself  beyond  measure  jealous 
that  Aristotle  should  divulge  his  secrets  after  having 
revealed  them  to  him.  He  rendered,  however,  impor- 
tant services  to  natural  history  by  sj^aring  no  pains 
or  expense  in  collecting  over  all  Asia  animals  which 
he  sent  to  Aristotle,  in  order  that  the  philosopher 
might  study  their  organization.     Pliny  relates  that 


HIS  DISCO  VER  V  OF  THE  NER  VES.  1 29 

several  thousand  persons  in  Asia  and  Greece  were 
employed  in  procuring  him  quadrupeds,  birds,  and 
fishes  wherever  they  could  be  met  with. 

Several  writers,  in  the  number  of  which  is  found 
Athengeus,  assert  that,  according  to  general  opinion, 
Aristotle  received  from  the  king  of  Macedonia  eight 
hundred  talents,  or  upwards  of  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  to  enable  him  to  collect  the  materials 
for  his  history  of  animals  ;  but  this  sum,  according 
to  Schulze,  would  seem  to  have  been  exaggerated. 
It  is  certain,  however,  that  Aristotle  was  placed  in 
circumstances  the  most  favorable  for  enriching  natu- 
ral history  and  anatomy  with  a  multitude  of  dis- 
coveries which  contributed  much  to  the  progress  of 
science.  By  all  these  circumstances  he  jDrofited,  and 
he  acquired  no  less  glory  in  philosojDhy  than  in  the 
sciences  accessory  to  medicine. 

The  principal  discovery  made  by  Aristotle  in 
anatomy  was  that  of  the  nerves,  but,  although  he  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  parts  of  the  human  frame 
designated  under  that  name,  he  appears  to  have 
observed  them  only  in  animals.  He  maintains  that 
the  ear  does  not  communicate  by  any  opening  with 
the  brain,  but  yet  he  somewhat  strangely  argues  that 
the  brain  sends  to  each  ear  a  vessel,  which  seems  to 
be  the  acoustic  nerve.  He  perfectly  describes  the 
strong  and  tendinous  optic  nerves  of  the  mole ;  but 
erroneously  asserts  that  there  is  no  continuity  be- 
tween the  brain  and  organs  of  sense,  and  he  therefore 
derives  all  the  senses  from  the  heart. 

Although  his  angeiology,  or  description  of  the 
vessels,  is  very  imperfect,  he  has  the  merit  of  having 
9 


1 30  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

first  placed  in  the  heart  the  origin  of  all  the  vessels. 
He  refutes  those  of  his  predecessors  who  assert  that 
they  proceed  from  the  head,  and  demonstrates  that 
the  structure  even  of  the  heart  sufficiently  indicates 
that  that  organ  is  intended  to  give  origin  to  blood- 
vessels. He  first  gave  the  name  of  aorta  to  the 
largest  artery  of  the  body,  but  he  attributed  the 
same  functions  to  it  as  to  the  veins.  He  not  only 
calls  it  t?^H,  a  vein,  but  also  regards  it  as  the  trunk 
of  all  the  other  veins.  He  affirms  that  the  brain 
does  not  receive  bloodvessels,  and  this  opinion  is 
probably  owing  to  his  never  having  opened  the 
human  subject.  He  seems,  in  fact,  only  to  have 
embraced  it  to  serve  as  a  point  of  support  to  his 
theory  on  the  humid  and  cold  nature  of  the  cerebral 
mass ;  for  he  adds  that  the  membranes  of  that  viscus 
are  covered  with  a  multitude  of  bloodvessels. 

In  describing  the  distribution  of  the  vessels,  Aris- 
totle falls  into  numerous  errors,  which  are  so  many 
additional  proofs  of  his  not  having  studied  the 
structure  of  the  human  body.  The  liver,  he  says, 
sends  a  vessel  to  the  right  arm,  so  that  bleeding 
should  always  be  practised  from  this  limb  in  diseases 
of  that  organ.  The  vessels  of  the  spleen  are  similarly 
distributed  towards  the  left  upper  extremity.  Those 
of  the  other  viscera  of  the  lower  belly  terminate  in 
a  common  trunk.  The  aorta  does  not  send  any 
branch  to  the  liver  or  spleen. 

The  doctrine  of  Aristotle  respecting  the  origin 
and  distribution  of  the  vessels  is  united  with 
another  idea  which  had  subsequently  considerable 
influence  on  physiology  and  'pathology, — that  the 


COMPARA  TIVE  ANA  TOMY  OF  ARISTO  TLB.     1 3 1 

spirit  or  air  passes  from  the  trachea  into  the  heart. 
Aristotle  asserts  that  the  heart  communicates  with 
the  trachea  by  means  of  adipous  and  cartilaginous 
ligaments;  and,  as  for  the  other  viscera,  he  describes 
the  brain  as  a  moist  body,  deprived  of  blood  and 
filling  the  cavity  of  the  head,  the  cerebellum  being 
situated  posteriorly.  There  exists,  he  observes,  in 
the  brain  an  empty  space,  by  which  he  probably 
means  the  ventricles.  Man,  also,  he  asserts,  is  of 
all  animals  the  one  whose  brain,  in  proportion  to 
the  size  of  the  body,  is  the  largest.  This  observa- 
tion, which  proves  how  assiduously  Aristotle  must 
have  dissected  animals,  has  been  confirmed  by  the 
moderns. 

Aristotle  is  chiefly  celebrated  in  anatomy  for  the 
great  number  of  animals  which  he  dissected,  and 
the  comparison  which  he  instituted  between  their 
structure  and  that  of  man;  he  was  also  the  first  who 
made  anatomical  drawings  and  appended  them  to 
his  works,  but  none  of  them  have  reached  us.  He 
first  established  the  physical  characters  which  dis- 
tinguish man  from  the  ape,  by  observing  that  the 
ape,  like  several  other  quadrupeds,  has  a  bone  in  the 
male  organ,  and  by  describing  the  difterences  pre- 
sented by  the  form  of  their  skull  and  the  bones  of 
their  faces.  He  remarked,  also,  that  man  is  the  only 
animal  that  extends  itself  on  the  back  in  sleep. 
The  Stageirite  is  the  first  philosopher  who  described 
the  four  stomachs  of  ruminating  animals  and  ex- 
plained the  phenomena  of  rumination. 

Of  the  immediate  followers  of  Aristotle,  none  is 
more  celebrated  than  Theophrastus  of  Eresus  (B.C. 


1 3  2  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

371-288).  He  was  the  author  of  several  productions 
on  medical  science,  in  which  he  accords  with  the 
principles  inculcated  bj  his  master,  Aristotle ;  but 
the  subjects  on  which  he  rendered  himself  most 
famous  were  of  a  botanical  nature,  especially  re- 
garding the  physiology  and  diseases  of  plants.  He 
may,  indeed,  be  considered  as  the  father  of  botanical 
science.  Theophrastus  died  loaded  with  years  and 
infirmities,  in  the  107th  year  of  his  age,  lamenting 
the  shortness  of  life  and  complaining  of  the  parti- 
ality of  nature  in  granting  longevity  to  the  crow 
and  to  the  stag,  and  not  to  man. 

One  of  those  who,  about  this  period,  most  contri- 
buted to  the  improvement  of  anatomy  was  Praxa- 
GORAS,  a  native  of  Cos.  He  was  the  first  who 
established  a  distinction  between  the  arteries  and 
veins,  a  discovery  which  is  as  important  as  all  the 
others  collectively  with  which  he  has  enriched  the 
science  of  anatomy.  Although  Aristotle  had  al- 
ready, in  some  measure,  traced  for  him  the  route, 
by  describing,  with  a  degree  of  accuracy  previously 
unknown,  the  origin  and  distribution  of  the  vessels, 
yet  the  only  diflerence  which  he  admitted  between 
those  vessels  was  that  some  of  a  tense  and  fibrous 
texture  ouo-ht  to  be  reo;arded  as  branches  of  the 
aorta,  whilst  others  he  considered  to  be  attached  to 
the  vena  cava.  At  this  period,  however,  it  was  re- 
cognized that  the  ramifications  of  the  aorta  are  those 
only  in  which  pulsations  are  evident. 

The  honor  of  this  great  discovery  belongs  entirely 
to  Praxagoras.  Before  him  all  the  ancients  had 
given  to  the  arteries  no  other  names  than  that  of 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  ARTERIES.  1 33 

bloodvessels.  But  whence  is  it  that  he  applied  to 
them  the  name  of  arteries,  seeing  that  until  his 
time  it  had  been  appropriated  to  the  trachea  or 
windpipe?  According  to  Sprengel,  the  following 
are  probably  the  reasons :  1.  The  arteries  alone  pro- 
duced pulsations,  and,  as  they  executed  them  con- 
tinually, their  contractions  appeared  to  him  to  depend 
on  a  primary  vital  force  inherent  in  the  vessels,  and 
for  a  long  period  the  air  {nvivixo)  had  been  regarded  as 
the  seat  of  the  vital  force.  2.  Finding  the  arteries 
constantly  dilated  after  death,  he  might  have  con- 
cluded that  during  life  they  contained  only  air.  3. 
Plato  and  Aristotle  had  judged  it  necessary,  in  order 
to  explain  the  continual  movement  of  the  heart,  to 
admit  of  air-passages  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
the  pneuma  from  the  lungs.  The  connection  between 
the  pulmonary  veins  and  the  aorta  in  the  left  ventri- 
cle appeared  to  Praxagoras  sufficient  to  explain  the 
presence  of  the  pneuma  in  that  ventricle,  and  conse- 
quently in  the  arteries,  and  hence  he  gives  to  the 
latter  the  name  which  had,  until  that  period,  been 
applied  only  to  the  trachea. 

Galen,  who  attributes  to  him  the  oj)inion  that  the 
arteries,  during  life,  are  filled  with  air,  is  justly  as- 
tonished that  he  should,  notwithstanding,  have  pre- 
tended to  judge  of  the  state  of  the  blood  by  feeling 
the  pulse,  ashe  did  not  admit  the  existence  of  that 
fluid  in  the  arterial  vessels.  If  Praxagoras,  however, 
had  been  asked  whence  comes  the  blood  which  es- 
capes from  the  artery  when  it  is  wounded,  he  would 
have  replied,  when  the  artery  receives  any  wound  it 
is  in  a  preternatural  condition,  attracting  the  blood 


1 3  4  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

from  every  part  of  the  body,  and  thus  causing  it  to 
flow  out. 

•An  erroneous  opinion,  common  to  Praxagoras, 
Aristotle,  and  several  others  of  the  ancients,  was 
that  the  heart  gives  origin  to  all  the  ligaments,  or 
at  least  that  the  strongest  ligaments  are  united  in 
that  organ.  Hippocrates  likewise  asserted,  like  all  his 
predecessors,  that  the  arteries,  in  process  of  time,  he- 
come  converted  into  ligaments,  and  acquire  strength 
in  proportion  to  the  diminution  of  their  diameter. 

Praxagoras  in  his  practice  wandered  but  little 
from  the  principles  of  Hippocrates.  He  pretended 
that  intermittent  fevers  arise  in  the  vena  cava,  pro- 
bably from  having  remarked  that  the  rigors  com- 
mence along  the  spine  where  that  vein  is  situated. 
In  his  surgical  practice  he  was  bolder  than  his  pre- 
decessors, for  he  removed  the  uvula  in  cases  of  in- 
flammatory sore  throat,  and  opened  the  cavity  of  the 
abdomen  in  those  aff*ected  with  the  iliac  passion  for 
the  purpose  of  replacing  the  intestines  in  their  na- 
tural condition. 

After  the  death  of  Alexander  the  extensive  em- 
pire of  the  Macedonian  hero  was  dismembered,  and  in 
the  year  321  before  Christ  Egypt  fell  to  his  brother- 
in-law,  Ptolemy,  surnamed  afterwards  Soter.  Xot 
only  was  this  prince  the  protector  and  friend  of  the 
learned,  but  all  the  sovereigns  likewise  of  his  time 
encouraged  science,  and  established  large  libraries. 
The  kings  of  Syria  and  of  Pergamus  were  especially 
distinguished  for  their  endeavors  to  contribute  to 
the  progress  of  human  knowledge.  This  universal 
disposition,  and  the  establishments  which  were  the 


BRILLIANT  ERA   OF  THE  PTOLEMIES.  135 

consequence,  necessarily  increased  the  sphere  of 
knowledge  as  well  as  the  numher  of  those  who 
cultivated  it,  corrected  its  imperfections,  and  rem- 
dered  it  more  useful  in  the  commerce  of  life. 

The  Greeks  were  the  first  who  inspired  a  taste 
for  study  in  Egypt  and  other  countries.  The  inha- 
bitants were  not  tardy  in  becoming  initiated  in  all 
the  mysteries  of  Grecian  philosophy,  and  thus  a 
degree  of  emulation  sprang  up  in  consequence,  which 
in  the  sequel  was  highly  advantageous  to  all  the 
sciences. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus  and  Ptolemy  Euergetes, 
who  succeeded  the  founder  of  the  kingdom  of  Egypt, 
followed  also  his  example,  and  spared  no  pains  in 
order  to  carry  the  sciences  to  the  highest  point  of 
splendor.  The  library  and  museum  of  Alexandria, 
of  which  Ptolemy  Soter  had  laid  the  first  foundation, 
was,  under  their  reign,  enriched  with  valuable  ac- 
quisitions. By  the  immense  commerce  which  they 
carried  on  in  the  Indian  seas  they  furnished  natu- 
ralists with  an  opportunity  of  observing  a  multitude 
of  animals  and  vegetables  unknown  until  that  period, 
and,  lastly,  they  were  the  first  who  permitted  phy- 
sicians to  open  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  They  them- 
selves did  not  disdain  to  study  the  human  structure, 
and  thus  rooted  out  the  old  prejudice  which  caused 
anatomy  to  be  ranked  as  amongst  the  greatest  of 
crimes. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus  rendered  himself  particu- 
larly celebrated  for  his  erudition.  He  had  purchased 
at  Athens,  Rhodes,  and  other  places,  a  number  of  the 
works   of  the   ancient   philosophers,  and   amongst 


1 3  6  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

others  those  of  Aristotle.  His  languishing  state  of 
health,  according  to  Strabo,  compelled  him  to  seek 
all  possible  means  of  relaxation,  and  no  study  ap- 
peared to  him  more  captivating  than  that  of  natural 
history.  He  kept  at  great  expense  hunters  for  taking 
all  kinds  of  wild  animals,  which  were  kept  alive  at 
Alexandria. 

During  the  constant  wars  which  distracted  the 
successors  of  Alexander,  the  sciences  were  nowhere 
cultivated  with  so  much  zeal  as  at  Alexandria. 
That  city  seemed  to  be  in  some  measure  the  centre 
of  all  knowledge  and  of  the  commerce  of  the  whole 
world,  and  its  inhabitants  preserved,  until  the  reign 
of  the  seventh  Ptolemy,  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of 
the  advantages  which  they  owed  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  sciences.  That  monarch  was  himself  a  learned 
disciple  of  Aristarchus  the  rhetorician,  and  wrote  a 
large  work  on  the  natural  history  of  animals.  His 
predecessors  all  followed  the  footsteps  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  sparing  no  pains  in  embellishing  the  city 
founded  by  that  conqueror,  and  in  forwarding  the 
progress  of  philosophy  and  of  the  sciences. 

Alexandria  became,  under  their  reign,  the  centre 
of  information,  the  asylum  of  philosophers,  of  rheto- 
ricians, and  of  physicians,  who  flocked  thither  from 
every  country  of  the  civilized  world,  and  its  situation 
and  uniform  mildness  of  climate  contributed  much 
to  render  it  an  agreeable  sojourn.  The  temple  of 
Serapis  contained  an  immense  collection  of  books, 
which  the  Ptolemies  had  brought  from  all  parts. 
Aristotle  was  appointed. by  Ptolemy  Soter  to  form 
and  conduct  this  library,  the  number  of  works  in 


CELEBRATED  RIVAL  LIBRARIES.  137 

which  is  estimated  by  some  authors  as  high  as 
700,000,  although,  according  to  others,  it  was  not 
greater  than  500,000  at  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Phik- 
delphus.  Ostentation,  however,  would  seem  to  have 
had  the  greatest  share  in  the  formation  of  that  im- 
mense collection,  in  which  the  kings  of  Egypt  paid 
more  regard  to  the  number  than  to  the  merit  of  the 
works. 

The  establishment  of  these  libraries  occasioned 
a  singular  rivalry  between  the  Ptolemies  and  the 
king  of  Pergamus.  Eumenes  had  established  one 
at  Pergamus  which  consisted  of  200,000  volumes. 
Those  princes  were  desirous  of  surpassing  each  other 
in  the  richness  of  their  collections  and  in  the  price 
which  they  paid  for  the  works  of  the  ancients,  and 
the  rivalry  extended  so  far,  that  Ptolemy  forbade 
the  exportation  of  the  papyrus,  in  order  to  deprive 
the  kings  of  Pergamus  of  the  means  of  surpassing 
him.  The  same  jealousy  also  seems  to  have  existed 
between  the  successors  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus 
and  of  Eumenes,  under  whom  was  discovered  the 
art  of  preparing  parchment. 

It  would  have  been  indeed  astonishing  if  the  re- 
compenses accorded  to  those  who  discovered  ancient 
manuscripts  had  not  induced  many  mercenary  indi- 
viduals to  make  interpolations,  and  to  falsify  im- 
portant works  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  money ; 
and  accordingly  it  is  at  this  period  that  we  may 
date  the  origin  of  many  interpolations  of  manuscripts 
and  the  greatest  number  of  doubtful  works.  Am- 
monius  informs  us  that  Aristotle  himself  was  not 
spared;  and  a  passage  in  Galen,  which  throws  much 


138  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

light  on  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  age,  shows  that 
the  name  of  Hippocrates  was  frequently  used  hy  the 
sophists  to  give  a  higher  value  to  the  opinions  they 
emitted. 

The  Ptolemies,  moreover,  had  founded,  in  a  part 
of  the  chateau  called  Bruchium,  a  museum,  accord- 
ing to  Suidas,  established  on  the  model  of  that  of 
Pero-amus.  A  number  of  learned  men  were  there 
entertained  and  pensioned  by  the  State,  enjoying 
the  privilege  of  making  use  of  the  library  and  the 
collection  on  natural  history.  Public  discussions  were 
there  indulged,  and,  after  the  manner  of  the  Olympic 
games,  prizes  were  awarded  to  the  conquerors.  This 
institution  became  more  especially  celebrated  as  a 
school  of  medicine;  and,  for  a  long  time,  it  was  suf- 
ficient for  a  practitioner  to  say  that  he  had  studied 
at  Alexandria  to  give  him  reputation. 

The  prominent  individuals  who  arrest  our  atten- 
tion in  the  Alexandrian  school,  connected  with  the 
medical  profession,  are  Herophilus  and  Erasistratus, 
according  to  Galen  and  Celsus  the  two  greatest 
anatomists  known  until  that  period.  They  both 
lived  in  Egypt  at  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Soter.  Hero- 
philus, who  was  born  at  Chalcedonia,  was  probably 
the  older.  It  is  certain  that  he  dissected  a  number 
of  human  bodies,  whilst  his  predecessors  were  satis- 
fied with  opening  animals.  Celsus  assures  us  that 
he  obtained  permission  to  dissect  living  criminals, 
and  that  he  frequently  profited  by  it.  This  tradi- 
tion was  believed,  and  was  repeated  by  the  fathers 
of  the  church.  However  his  knowledge  was  ob- 
tained, the  works  of  this  physician  were  the  more 


ANA  TOMICAL  DISCO  VERIES  OF  HER OPHIL  US.     139 

useful  to  science,  as  his  descriptions  were  not 
formed  from  analogy,  but  drawn  from  nature  her- 
self; and  he  certainly  made  a  number  of  discoveries. 
One  of  the  most  important  is  that  of  the  functions 
of  the  nervous  system. 

Herophilus  was  the  first  who  regarded  the  nerves 
as  organs  of  sensation.  He  was  perfectly  acquainted 
with  the  brain,  for  he  says  that  this  viscus  gives 
rise  to  the  nerves.  "We  possess,  besides,  some  details 
respecting  the  numerous  discoveries  with  which  he 
enriched  anatomy.  He  first  described  the  vascular 
membrane  which  lines  the  ventricle.  He  gave  the 
earliest  description  of  the  fourth  sinus,  to  which  the 
term  torcular  Herophili  has  been  assigned,  and  called 
by  the  name  of  calamus  scriptorius  the  longitudinal 
fissure  in  the  fourth  ventricle.  He  described  with 
great  accuracy  the  diflerent  portions  of  the  eye,  and 
discovered  by  dissection  the  greater  part  of  the 
membranes  of  that  organ,  giving  them  names  by 
which  they  are  distinguished  at  the  present  day,  the 
retina,  for  example.  He  is  said  also  to  have  first  ope- 
rated for  the  cataract  by  extraction  of  the  crystalline. 

Another  discovery,  and  a  no  less  important  one, 
was  the  distinction  which  he  established  between 
the  vessels  of  the  mesentery  proceeding  to  the  liver 
and  those  which,  terminating  in  the  mesenteric 
glands,  were  subsequently  called  lacteal  veins.  He 
did  not,  however,  describe  them  so  accurately  as 
Erasistratus.  He  was  the  first  who  called  the  intes- 
tine duodenum  by  that  name.  His  description  of 
the  genital  organs  was  very  different  from  that  of 
his  predecessors.     He  discovered  the  epididymis,  but 


1 40  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

does  not  appear  to  have  suspected  any  use  for  it. 
Scarcely  had  the  natural  pulsation  of  arteries  been 
discovered  when  Herophilus  established  a  system  on 
the  discovery.  He  observed  the  diiierence  of  those 
pulsations  as  regarded  their  strength  and  velocity, 
and  remarked  that  it  was  not  in  the  artery  itself  but 
in  the  heart  that  the  origin  of  the  force  which  in- 
duces pulsation  should  be  sought  after. 

He  rendered  to  the  other  branches  of  the  healing 
art  less  important  services  than  to  anatomy,  in  which 
last  branch  he  was  so  accurate  that  it  was  said  of 
him  by  Fallopius,  one  of  the  greatest  anatomists  of 
the  16th  century,  that  to  contradict  Herophilus  in 
anatomy  was  like  contradicting  the  Gospel.  This 
doctrine  of  the  pulse  caused  him  to  make  researches  on 
symptomatology,  which  he  divided  into  three  parts: 
diagnostics,  or  the  signs  distinguishing  diseases ; 
anamnestics,  or  the  commemorative  signs  which  dis- 
cover the  ]3receding  state  of  the  body ;  and  prognostics, 
or  the  signs  indicating  the  favorable  or  unfavorable 
termination  of  the  disorder.  His  opinions,  however, 
on  this  subject,  as  well  as  those  of  a  practical  nature, 
are  so  wild  and  visionary  as  not  to  merit  comment. 

A  physician  not  less  celebrated  than  Herophilus 
in  the  history  of  medicine  was  Erasistratus,  who 
probably  lived  at  Alexandria  in  the  time  of  Herophi- 
lus, about  300  B.C.  He  was  a  disciple  of  Chrysippus 
of  Cnidos,  of  Metrodorus,  and  of  Theophrastus,  and 
lived  for  some  time  at  the  court  of  Seleucus  Xicator, 
where  a  splendid  cure  is  said  to  have  obtained  him 
a  brilliant  reputation.  Appian  and  Lucan  give  us 
the  most  detailed  account  of  this  case  without,  how- 


ME  Die  A  L  SKIL  L   OF  ERA  SIS  TEA  TUS.  1 4 1 

ever,  naming  Erasistratus,  but  Plutarch  in  relating 
it  expressly  mentions  him.  Antiochus,  son  of  Seleu- 
cus,  having  become  deeply  enamored  of  his  step- 
mother Stratonice,  concealed  his  passion,  and  at  last 
fell  sick.  The  prince  kept  his  bed,  experienced  no 
pain,  but  became  considerably  reduced  without  its 
being  possible  to  discover  the  cause.  Erasistratus, 
having  remarked  the  sunken  state  of  his  eyes,  tHe 
feebleness  of  his  voice,  the  paleness  of  his  complexion, 
and  the  tears  which  he  unconsciously  shed,  fancied 
that  he  saw  in  the  congeries  of  symptoms  proofs  of 
a  violent  passion.  In  order  to  throw  light  on  his 
suspicion,  and  discover  the  object,  he  placed  his  hand 
upon  the  heart  of  the  patient,  and  had  all  the  females 
in  the  palace  brought  into  the  chamber,  when  An- 
tiochus  experienced  no  agitation ;  but  on  the  ap- 
proach of  Stratonice  he  immediately  changed  color, 
his  heart  beat  forcibly,  he  was  covered  with  perspi- 
ration, and  seized  with  a  general  trembling.  Appian 
and  Lucan  render  the  subsequent  part  of  the  recital 
no  less  interesting  by  detailing  the  adroit  manner 
in  which  Erasistratus  announced  the  news  to  Seleu- 
cus,  and  the  generous  conduct  of  the  king. 

Soon  after  this  Erasistratus  abandoned  the  practice 
of  medicine  and  went  to  Alexandria,  where  he  de- 
voted all  his  attention  to  theoretical  speculation  and 
to  anatomy.  His  remains  were  deposited  on  Mount 
Mycale  opposite  Samos,  whence  arose  the  surname 
of  Samian  which  several  authors  have  assigned  him. 
The  profundity  of  his  knowledge  and  his  rare  pro- 
bity attracted  around  him  so  many  friends  and  dis- 
ciples that  he  passed  generally  for  the  first  anatomist 


1 42  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

and  the  greatest  theorist  of  his  age.  Erasistratus 
supposed  digestion  to  be  performed  by  attrition. 
His  own  system  of  pathology  rested  on  the  idea  of 
the  arteries  containing  only  a  spirit,  and  that  diseases, 
particularly  fevers  and  inflammations,  arose  from 
their  admitting  blood.  He  was  afraid  of  bleeding 
lest  the  blood  should  find  a  way  from  the  veins  to 
the  arteries,  and  he  dreaded  purging  because  Pytha- 
goras had  forbidden  it.  He  reduced  his  patients  by 
abstinence  or  by  violent  exercise.  Yenesection  he 
supplied  by  the  use  of  ligatures  round  the  limbs; 
purgatives  by  slight  emetics  or  by  glysters.  He 
advised  simple  medicines,  and  reprobated  in  strong 
language  the  complicated  formulae  of  that  era. 

Erasistratus  first  observed  the  valves  of  the  vena 
cava  and  gave  them  the  name  of  triglochine,  by 
which  they  are  still  frequently  designated,  although 
more  commonly  by  that  of  tricuspid.  According  to 
Coelius  Aurelianus,  he  practised  surgery  with  so 
much  hardihood,  that  in  abscesses  of  the  liver  and 
spleen  he  did  not  hesitate  to  open  the  abdomen  for 
the  purpose  of  applying  the  remedies  immediately 
to  the  parts  diseased. 

The  chief  of  the  followers  of  Herophilus  and  Era- 
sistratus during  the  next  three  centuries  were,  Eu- 
demus,  Demetrius  of  Apamea,  Mantias,  Baccheius  of 
Tanagra,  Zenon  of  Laodiceia,  Apollonius  of  Citium, 
Apollonius  of  Memphis,  Callimachus,  Callianax, 
Chrysermus,  Andreas  of  Carystus,  Cydias,  Heraclides 
of  Ery  thraea,  Apollonius  of  Tyre,  Gains,  Dioscorides, 
Phacas,  Straton  of  Berytus,Straton  of  Lampsacus,Ly- 
con  of  Troas,  I^icias  of  Miletus,  Apollophanes,  Arte- 


THE  SURGEONS  OF  ALEXANDRIA.  143 

midorus  of  Side,  Charidemus  and  his  son  Hermogenes 
of  Tricea,  Icesias  and  Menodorus,  but  they  are  spoken 
of  with  but  little  respect  by  Galen,  and  are  said  to 
have  been  arrogant  and  loquacious.  It  is  somewhat 
odd  that  not  one  of  them  has  been  celebrated  for  any 
anatomical  acquirements;  and  yet,  although  the 
school  of  Alexandria,  of  which  they  were  the  sup- 
porters, fell  more  and  more  into  a  state  of  decay  from 
the  progress  of  the  empirical  and  methodical  sects, 
it  was  kept  up  until  the  time  of  Galen. 

The  division,  which  was  made  about  that  time,  of 
medicine  into  surgery,  dietetics,  and  rhizotomy  or 
pharmacy,  occasioned,  as  Celsus  has  well  remarked, 
considerable  progress  in  the  art  of  surgery.  The 
surgeons  of  Alexandria,  where  surgery  was  first 
successfully  cultivated,  performed  the  majority  of 
the  most  important  operations.  Philoxenus  was  the 
first  who  distinguished  himself  by  his  dexterity. 
He  left  several  works  on  surgery,  which  are  all  lost. 
Galen  had  preserved  only  a  collyrium  or  eye-water 
of  his  invention.  Celsus  speaks  in  eulogiums  of  a 
person  named  Hero,  who  first  taught  that  the  epi- 
ploon is  frequently  found  contained  in  an  umbilical 
hernia. 

Of  all  the  operations,  however,  which  were  im- 
proved at  Alexandria,  that  for  the  stone  is  the  one 
which  most  merits  our  attention.  Certain  surgeons 
in  that  great  city  confined  themselves  to  it  exclu- 
sively, and  were  called  lithotomists,  as  they  are  de- 
nominated at  the  present  day.  The  unhap]3y  end 
of  Antiochus  the  Sixth,  sumamed  Theos,  furnishes 


144      '  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

US  with  a  proof  of  the  depraved  condition  of  the 
lithotomists  of  Alexandria.  The  usurper,  Tryphon, 
engaged  some  of  them  to  propagate  a  report  that 
the  young  prince  was  affected  with  the  stone,  and 
under  pretext  of  freeing  him  from  the  disease  he  was 
made  to  perish  under  the  operation. 

The  school  of  Alexandria  is  also  remarkable  for 
the  attention  paid  to  the  improvement  of  surgical 
apparatus.  Amyntas  of  Rhodes  was  the  author  of 
a  bandage  for  fractures  of  the  nose,  Perigenes  of 
one  for  dislocation  of  the  humerus,  Pasicrates  and 
^N'ileus  invented  the  pleinthium,  a  species  of  square 
box,  furnished  with  pulleys,  which  was  used  in  the 
reduction  of  luxations  of  the  humerus ;  ^ymphodo- 
rus  a  fracture-box  for  the  extremities,  etc.  etc. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  some  of  the  works  of 
the  physicians  and  surgeons  of  Alexandria  have  not 
reached  us.  Even  in  the  time  of  Julius  Csesar  the 
celebrated  library  of  the  Bruchium  had  become  a 
prey  to  the  flames,  which  devoured  400,000  volumes, 
and  doubtless  destroyed  a  considerable  number  of 
the  works  of  the  Alexandrians.  It  is  true  that 
Egypt  still  possessed  the  library  of  the  temple  of 
Serapis,  and  that  Marc  Antony  made  a  present  to 
Cleopatra  of  that  of  Pergamus,  which  comprised, 
according  to  Plutarch,  200,000  volumes,  but  the 
loss  of  the  royal  library  was  not  less  irreparable. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  Herophilus  taught  the 
obstetric  art,  and  that  a  woman  named  Agrodicea 
acquired  so  much  dexterity  in  it  that  she  obtained 
permission  to  practise  it,  although  those  of  her  sex 
were  forbidden  to  exercise  it ;  but  this  latter  asser- 


PROHIBITION  TO   YOUNG  SURGEONS.  145 

tion  does  not  rest  on  a  very  clear  foundation.  It 
would  seem,  however,  that  the  exclusive  practice  of 
particular  branches  of  surgery  was  encouraged  at 
Alexandria,  as  a  law  existed  prohibiting  young 
practitioners  from  undertaking  the  operation  for 
the  stone,  which  was  always  left  to  the  lithotomists. 


10 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  EMPIRICAL  SCHOOL. 

Origin  of  the  empirical  sect — Views  and  tlieories  of  the  empirics 
contrasted  with  those  of  their  predecessors — Traumatic  theory 
— Their  neglect  of  anatomy  and  physiology — Distinguished  fol- 
lowers of  this  school. 

If  we  apply  the  denomination  of  empirical  to 
those  who,  neglecting  the  study  of  the  causes  of 
disease,  confine  themselves  to  the  employment  of 
those  means  of  which  experience  had  demonstrated 
to  them  the  utility,  the  term  is  applicable  to  all  the 
physicians  of  antiquity.  There  did  not,  however, 
exist  until  between  the  years  280  and  250  before 
Christ  an  empirical  sect,  properly  so  called,  distin- 
guished b}^  the  particular  principles  which  they  ad- 
mitted. 

The  decaying  condition  of  the  dogmatic  school, 
and  the  change  which  had  occurred  in  the  prevail- 
ing philosophy,  were  the  causes  which  gave  rise  to 
the  empirics.  Physicians  had  abandoned  too  soon 
the  route  of  observation  which  Hippocrates  had 
pointed  out  to  them,  and  made  use  of  the  few  dis- 
coveries with  which  anatomy  was  enriched  to  es- 
tablish on  the  functions  of  the  body,  in  the  state  of 
health  or  disease,  fresh  speculations  which  were  not 
founded  on  a  sufficient  number  of  observations. 
Hence,  theory  succeeded  theory  with  extreme  rapi- 


THE  RISE  OF  EMPIRICISM.  147 

dity,  and  this  circumstance,  joined  to  the  several 
new  medicines  which  the  immense  extent  of  com- 
merce of  the  Ptolemies  had  made  known,  induced  a 
considerable  number  of  physicians  to  attend  exclu- 
sively to  the  properties  of  drugs,  without  at  all 
attaching  themselves  to  the  theories  of  the  dogma- 
tists. 

The  extension  of  scepticism  also  contributed  to 
the  rise  of  empiricism,  the  empirical  school  having 
separated  from  the  dogmatical  a  short  time  after 
Pyrrho  had  become  celebrated  by  the  establishment 
of  his  particular  doctrine.  Pyrrho  was  born  in  the 
101st  Olympiad,  and  probably  died  about  the  third 
year  of  the  133d  (288  years  before  Christ),  and  Phi- 
LiNUS,  founder  of  the  empirical  school,  enjoyed  his 
greatest  reputation  during  the  same  Olympiad.  The 
manner  in  which  Pyrrhonism  or  scepticism  in  all 
probability  encouraged  the  empirical  sect  was  by 
inducing  them  to  reject  indiscriminately  all  the 
dogmas  which  had  been  previously  admitted,  for  so 
they  are  asserted  to  have  done. 

The  first  empirics — by  which  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood anything  similar  in  character  to  the  unprinci- 
pled ]3retender  of  modern  days,  who  has  his  nostrum 
which  he  gives  indiscriminately  in  all  diseases,  and 
is  also  distinguished  by  the  name  of  empiric — paid 
particular  attention  to  symptoms,  without  occupying 
themselves  with  the  causes  of  disease.  By  sub- 
jecting the  art  of  observing  to  fixed  and  invariable 
rules,  they  rendered  to  the  science  a  far  more 
important  service  than  all  the  vague  theories  of  the 
physicians  of  antiquity,  and  improved  it  more  than 


148  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

all  the  speculations  of  the  ancient  dogmatic  school. 
The  theories  of  the  latter  have  been  long  buried  in 
oblivion,  and  now  interest  only  the  historian,  whilst 
the  rules  which  the  empirics  have  left  us  on  the 
manner  of  observing,  although  mixed  up  with 
several  absurdities,  are  still  at  the  present  day  the 
basis  of  our  labors,  and  the  touchstone  of  the  con- 
clusions which  we  draw  from  them. 

The  experience  on  which  they  rested  was  the 
result  of  the  most  perfect  induction.  It  was  neces- 
sary, before  pretending  to  possess  any  rational 
knowledge,  to  have  observed  the  same  cases  several 
times  and  under  similar  circumstances.  Although 
the  empirics  neglected  the  search  into  the  causes 
which  do  not  fall  under  the  senses,  they  attached 
the  more  importance  to  the  judicious  selection  of 
those  phenomena  which  might  become  an  object  of 
observation,  for  it  appeared  to  them  wholly  super- 
fluous to  attend  to  the  most  trivial  symptoms  of 
disease.  They  besides  carefully  discriminated  the 
symptoms  which  essentially  belong  to  the  disease, 
from  those  complicated  with  it.  These  cases  the 
physician  was  expected  to  retain  in  his  memory,  and 
the  name  of  theorem  was  appropriated  to  the  re- 
membrance of  cases  which  they  had  observed. 
Several  such  theorems  rendered  the  physician  capa- 
ble of  pretending  to  empiricism ;  and  the  union  of 
all  constituted  medicine,  observation  and  memory 
forming  its  foundation. 

The  empirics  admitted  three  distinct  sources  of 
observation,  according  as  they  obtained  it  by  some 
fortunate  accident,  by  inspection  of  the  patient,  or 


VIEWS  OF  THE  EMPIRICS.  149 

by  a  comparison  with  other  similar  cases,  or  by 
analogy. 

Empiricism  or  autopsy  was  consequently  under- 
stood, when  an  individual  preserved  the  remembrance 
of  cases  which  had  always  been  seen  alike,  and  the 
application  of  which  might  be  made  to  any  one 
that  presented  itself  But  as  all  men  are  not  placed 
in  circumstances  which  will  permit  them  to  observe 
a  sufficiently  great  number  of  morbid  symptoms,  it 
is  frequently  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  history, 
which  is  nothing  more  than  the  remembrance  of  a 
number  of  cases  which  have  followed  the  same 
march,  and  to  which  any  one  may  arrive  by  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  remarks  of  his  predecessors.  But 
here  it  was  required  that  they  should  be  influenced 
only  by  the  most  perfect  possible  induction.  If,  for 
example,  the  critical  character  of  an  evacuation  had 
only  been  noticed  by  one  physician,  it  could  not  be 
depended  upon;  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  ex- 
amine the  opinions  of  different  practitioners  and  to 
be  guided  by  those  of  the  majority. 

It  was  necessary,  again,  that  the  observations 
should  have  been  made  in  the  same  manner,  that  the 
circumstances  should  have  been  perfectly  identical, 
and  particularly  that  the  disease  should  not  have 
presented  the  least  difference  in  its  nature  and 
character.  Thus,  the  remarks  made  by  a  physician 
on  inflammation  were  not  considered  to  be  appli- 
cable to  simple  or  ephemeral  fever.  To  him  who 
knew  how  to  profit  by  the  observations  of  others  with 
all  requisite  prudence,  and  who  consequently  possessed 
the  history,  it  was  not  esteemed   necessary  that  he 


15° 


HISTOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 


should  have  observed  himself.  As  we  are  able,  from 
the  descriptions  given  by  authors,  to  acquire  a  suf- 
ficiently exact  knowledge  of  a  country  which  we 
have  never  visited,  so  was  it  very  properly  considered 
are  we  by  attention  to  the  writings  of  others  able  to 
learn  more,  in  the  course  of  a  long  life,  than  if  we 
ourselves  had  observed  the  diseases  for  ages. 

As  personal  observation,  however,  and  the  know- 
ledge acquired  in  the  works  of  practitioners  were  not 
considered  to  be  sufficient  when  new  diseases  pre- 
sented themselves,  or  when  medicines  were  employed 
which  had  not  previously  been  used,  the  founders  of 
the  empirical  school  indicated  a  third  method  of  ar- 
riving at  a  knowledge  of  the  curative  means  which 
ought  to  be  adopted.  This  was  analogism,  or  a 
comparison  between  the  existing  case  and  similar 
ones.  As  Serapion  had  ranked  this  third  method 
amongst  the  number  of  the  foundation  stones  on 
which  empiricism  rested,  observation,  history,  and 
analogism  were  subsequently  called  the  tripod  of 
that  sect. 

From  this  notice  of  the  empirics  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  they  really  imitated  Hippocrates,  as  they 
adopted  the  same  philosophy  by  which  the  Father  of 
Physic  had  produced  the  most  happy  and  salutary 
reform  in  medicine.  But,  although  the  principles 
which  they  established  greatly  contributed  to  the 
progress  of  the  art,  they  were  highly  culpable  in 
neglecting  all  occult  cases.  K'othing,  they  main- 
tained, is  more  useless  than  the  desire  to  fathom 
occult  subjects;  they  are  impenetrable,  and  no  rea- 
soning can  make  us  acquainted  with  them.     The 


SERAPION  OF  ALEXANDRIA.  151 

physicians,  they  asserted,  would  be  always  at  variance 
with  each  other  on  those  subjects,  whilst  there  never 
would  be  the  least  discussion  raised  on  those  pheno- 
mena which  strike  the  senses.  They  despised  also 
anatomy,  that  firmest  support  of  medicine,  and  paid 
no  attention  to  it,  but  they  agreed  that  where  an 
opportunity  accidently  occurred  for  examining  the 
structure  of  the  body  it  ought  to  be  embraced;  and, 
as  the  most  frequent  opportunities  which  were  of- 
fered to  them  were  in  cases  of  wounds,  they  thought 
it  necessary  to  give  the  name  of  traumatic  theory  to 
the  knowledge  gained  in  that  manner. 

The  dogmatists  could  never  forgive  the  empirics 
for  attaching  no  value  to  physiology,  and  especially 
for  not  taking  into  consideration  the  different  powers 
of  the  body.  The  efforts,  indeed,  of  the  empirics 
seem  to  have  had  no  other  object  than  that  of  curing 
diseases  by  the  most  suitable  means.  They  occupied 
themselves  but  very  little  with  the  physiological  and 
pathological  speculations  diffused  about  the  same 
time,  and  admitted  only  amongst  the  powers  of  the 
body  those  the  real  existence  of  which  experience 
had  proved. 

Philinus  of  Cos,  the  disciple  of  Herophilus,  was 
the  founder  of  the  empirical  school;  but  his  suc- 
cessor Sekapion  of  Alexandria  appears  to  have 
given  to  the  system  greater  extension,  so  that  by 
some  authors  he  has  been  considered  as  its  inven- 
tor. Serapion  wrote  against  Hippocrates  with  much 
vehemence,  and  busied  himself  almost  exclusive- 
ly with  researches  on  drugs.  Ccelius  Aura4ianus, 
in   quoting  his  book  Ad   Sectas^   censures  him   for 


152  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

the  acrid  remedies  which  he  prescribed  in  angina, 
and  reproaches  him  with  having  neglected  dietetics. 
It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  in  those  remote  ages  a 
multitude  of  superstitious  remedies  were  used  in 
epilepsy;  for  Serapion,  besides  castor,  recommended 
the  brains  of  the  camel,"  the  rennet  of  the  sea-calf, 
the  excrement  of  the  crocodile,  the  heart  of  the  hare, 
the  blood  of  the  turtle,  and  the  testicles  of  the  wild 
boar.  Several  authors  make  mention  of  some  other 
preparations  and  antidotes  which  bear  his  name,  and 
not  worth  much  more  than  the  preceding. 

The  immediate  followers  of  Serapion  and  of  the 
empirical  sect  during  the  next  two  centuries  and  a 
half  (B.  C.  276-30)  were  Celsus,  Glaucias,  Baccheius 
of  Tanagra,  Heraclides  of  Tarentum,  Meander  of 
Colophon,  and  Menodotus  of  ISTicomedeia ;  but 
scarcely  any  of  them  made  discoveries  or  promul- 
gated sentiments  of  sufficient  interest  to  be  worthy 
of  notice. 

The  empirical  school  terminates  the  most  ancient 
period  of  the  history  of  medicine,  and  that  which 
gives  a  type  to  the  healing  art  of  the  subsequent 
ages. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

STATE  OP  MEDICINE  NEAK  THE  DAWN  OF   THE  CHRISTIAN 

ERA. 

Royal  toxicologists — Rome  a  centre  of  attraction  to  the  world — 
Asclepiades  and  his  views  on  anatomy,  pathology,  &c. — Bron- 
chotomy  first  proposed — Disciples  of  Asclepiades — Themison 
of  Laodicea — First  employment  of  leeching — Followers  of 
Themison — The  methodic  school. 

The  studies  and  the  taste  of  the  princes  who 
reigned  at  this  period  spread  considerable  light  on 
the  materia  medica,  and  advanced  the  knowledge  of 
poisons  and  antidotes  to  a  higher  degree  than  that 
of  any  other  branch  of  the  science.  Attains  Philo- 
metor,  the  last  king  of  Pergamus  (in  the  second  cen- 
tury B.  C),  was  celebrated  in  antiquity  for  his  skill 
in  medicine  and  his  great  knowledge  of  botany.  He 
cultivated  in  his  gardens  different  poisonous  plants, 
as  the  hyoscyamus,  aconite,  hemlock,  and  hellebore, 
with  which  he  made  experiments  to  ascertain  the 
efficiency  of  antidotes.  Several  remedies  which  he 
prepared  subsequently  bore  his  name.  The  principal 
were  a  plaster  made  with  cerusse  and  an  internal 
remedy  in  jaundice. 

Mithridates  Eupator,  king  of  Pontus,  however, 
surpassed  him  in  general  knowledge  and  in  skill 
in  the  healing  art.  This  prince,  who  never  re- 
quired an  interpreter  when  he  received  the  ambas- 
sadors of  even  the  most  remote  nations,  spoke  two 


1 5  4  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

and  twenty  languages,  if  we  may  credit  Pliny.  The 
continued  fear  which  he  had  of  being  poisoned 
caused  him  to  contract  a  habit  of  daily  taking  poi- 
sons and  antidotes,  to  habituate  his  body  to  the  action 
of  toxical  substances.  He  was  also  accustomed  to 
try  on  criminals  the  action  of  poisons  and  counter- 
poisons.  After  his  death  Pompey  seized  on  all  his 
goods,  and  found  in  his  castle  secret  memoirs  stating 
that  he  had  poisoned  two  individuals  and  treating 
also  of  the  interpretation  of  dreams.  Pompey  had 
these  books  translated  by  his  freedman  Leucus. 
Mithridates  is  especially  celebrated  for  his  antidote, 
in  which  there  were  iifty-three  ingredients.  Two 
plants  bear  his  name,  the  eupatorium  and  a  species 
of  garlic  called  mithridatium. 

The  victories  of  Lucullus  and  of  Pompey  in  Greece 
and  in  Asia  first  made  known  the  Grecian  ^^hilosophy 
to  the  Romans.  After  that  period,  attracted  by  the 
thirst  of  gain,  philosophers,  rhetoricians,  poets,  and 
physicians  came  in  crowds  from  Greece,  Asia  Minor, 
and  Egypt  to  Rome  and  into  Italy,  to  display  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  capital  of  the  world,  knowledge  and 
arts  which  were  unknown  to  them.  Of  this  number 
was  AscLEPiADES,  who  was  born  in  Prusa,  a  city  of 
Bithynia,  about  ninety  years  before  Christ.  He  was 
by  profession  a  rhetorician  or  Epicurean,  and  the 
friend  of  Cicero.  If  we  may  credit  the  report  of 
Pliny,  Asclepiades  went  to  Rome  without  any  know- 
ledge of  medicine ;  and  failing  in  his  attempts  as  a 
rhetorician,  he  with  little  iDieparation  professed  him- 
self a  physician.  He  was  the  first  of  this  profession 
who   gained   general   esteem  in  the  capital  of  the 


PECULIAR   VIEWS  OF  ASCLEPIADES.  155 

world,  and  whose  name  has  reached  posterity.  Pliny 
gives  a  long  account  of  the  artifices  by  which  he  at- 
tained his  reputation,  but,  as  Dr.  Parr  has  very  cor- 
rectly observed,  they  are  such  only  as  every  fashion- 
able physician  employs, — pleasing  the  patient  and 
avoiding  everything  that  can  give  uneasiness,  till 
nature  cures  or  yields  to  the  disease. 

The  philosophy  of  Asclepiades  was  that  of  Demo- 
critus  as  reformed  by  Epicurus,  and  his  physiology 
rested  on  corpuscles  or  atoms  flowing  through  invisi- 
ble pores.  The  doctrines  of  Hippocrates  respecting 
the  intelligence  of  nature  and  her  influence  in  the 
cure  of  diseases  he  rejected  with  contempt.  He  de- 
nied even  the  power  of  attraction  in  the  magnet. 
Everything  happened,  in  his  opinion,  from  necessity, 
and  nothing  without  a  cause ;  nor  was  nature  any- 
thing but  the  body  or  its  motions,  and  instead  of 
assisting  it  was  usually  injurious.  His  anatomical 
knowledge  was  very  imperfect,  or  he  would  not  have 
thought  that  the  urine  passed  from  the  intestines  into 
the  bladder  through  pores.  Digestion  was,  in  his 
opinion,  unnecessary;  he  supposed  the  food  was  car- 
ried into  the  blood,  and  there  attenuated  till  it  was 
adapted  to  the  pores  of  the  vessels  which  conveyed 
it  as  nourishment.  Hunger  was  induced  by  the  re- 
laxation of  the  larger  and  thirst  by  that  of  the  smaller 
pores.  The  faeces  were  not,  he  thought,  excrementi- 
tious,  as  some  insects  feed  on  them. 

His  pathology  was  of  a  similar  complexion.  In- 
flammation was  owing  to  obstruction  either  from  the 
magnitude,  the  figure,  the  multitude,  or  the  rapid 
motion  of  the  atoms ;  pain  to  obstruction  from  par- 


156  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

tides  of  a  large  size,  and  the  absence  of  the  smaller 
ones.  Fainting,  dropsies,  and  hectics  arose  from  the 
too  great  size  of  the  pores ;  and  dropsies,  in  particu- 
lar, he  thought  might  be  owing  to  the  transudation 
of  the  flesh,  which  then  became  water.  Quotidians 
were  owing,  in  his  opinion,  to  the  obstruction  of  the 
larger  particles,  tertians  of  the  less,  and  quartans  of 
the  least.     He  denied  the  existence  of  critical  days. 

As  for  his  practical  principles,  the  branch  of 
therapeutics  is  indebted  to  him  for  several  important 
remarks.  He  rejected  violent  remedies,  particularly 
emetics  and  purgatives,  substituting  for  the  latter 
injections.  He  had  frequently  recourse  to  blood- 
letting, especially  in  inflammations.  He  had  but 
little  confidence  in  cupping,  which  he  used  only 
when  the  fever  had  disappeared  and  the  plethora 
was  not  very  considerable.  Obstructions  were  best 
removed,  in  his  opinion,  by  friction,  wine,  gestation, 
and  bathing.  He  plumed  himself  on  having  first  re- 
commended frictions,  and  is  minute  in  his  directions 
for  their  management.  He  first  made  use  of  the 
shower-bath,  if  we  are  to  so  translate  his  halnece 
pensiles,  and  frequently  directed  cold  baths  and  af- 
fusion with  cold  water.  In  violent  angina,  or  sore 
throat,  he  bled  the  patient  in  both  arms,  and  was 
the  first  that  advised  bronchotomy,  or  opening  the 
windpipe,  to  prevent  the  fatal  effects  of  that  com- 
plaint. 

Asclepiades  was  the  founder  of  a  school  which 
enjoyed  great  celebrity  amongst  the  ancients,  and 
promulgated  his  principles  with  more  or  less  modi- 
fication.    Amongst  his  disciples  Stephanus  of  By- 


THE  MIS  ON  OF  LA  0  DICE  A.  1 5  7 

zantium  names  Philonides  of  Dyrrachium,  Aufidius 
of  Sicily,  and  ^Nico  of  Agrigentum,  who  flourished 
about  the  middle  of  the  century  before  Christ. 
Marcus  Artorius,  the  friend  and  physician  of 
Augustus,  was  also  one  of  the  disciples  of  Asclepi- 
ades.  Augustus  said  himself,  in  his  memoirs,  that 
he  owed  his  life  to  Artorius,  because  he,  inspired  by 
a  dream,  persuaded  him  before  the  battle  of  Philippi 
to  be  present  notwithstanding  his  indisposition,  by 
which  step  he  was  prevented  from  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy  when  Brutus  became  master  of 
his  camp.  Artorius  was  lost  at  sea,  a  short  time 
after  the  battle  of  Actium,  which  took  place  31 
years  before  Christ.  Clodius  and  Niceratus,  whom 
Coelius  Aurelianus  also  ranks  amongst  the  disciples 
of  Asclepiades,  are  less  worthy  of  notice. 

The  most  celebrated  and  the  most  important  of 
all  the  pupils  of  the  Bithynian  physician  was  The- 
MisoN  of  Laodicea,  founder  of  the  Methodic  School, 
properly  so  called,  who  did  much  to  rectify  the  prin- 
ciples of  Asclepiades,  and  to  introduce  greater  pre- 
cision into  his  system.  Themison  has  been  highly 
extolled  by  his  contemporaries  and  successors,  and 
his  name  was  long  synonymous  with  that  of  an  able 
physician.  Juvenal,  however,  whether  by  way  of 
sarcasm  or  as  a  simple  narrator  of  facts,  is  very 
severe  upon  his  medical  powers :  "  Qiiot  Themison 
cegros  autumno  occiderat  uno  ;"  "  How  many  sick  did 
Themison  destroy  in  one  autumn  ?" 

Asclepiades  principally  considered  the  causes  of 
diseases,  whilst  Themison  thought  it  only  necessary 
to  connect  them  by  some  common   symptom,  and 


1 5  8  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

divided  diseases  into  the  stricta^  laxa^  and  mixta.  By 
these  terms  are  not  to  be  understood  constricted  and 
relaxed  fibres,  or  a  mixture  of  both,  but  diseases  at- 
tended with  impeded  or  increased  secretions  or  too 
great  discharges  from  one  part,  or  too  little  from 
another.  These  principles  formed  a  guide  for  physi- 
cians, and  hence  the  sect  (from  jue^oSoj,  via)  was  styled 
the  methodic.  In  the  first  case,  the  stricta,  Themison 
directed  evacuants ;  in  the  second,  the  laxa,  astrin- 
gents ;  and  in  the  third  or  mixta,  to  oppose,  by  either 
class  of  remedies,  the  most  dangerous  symptoms  as 
they  may  occur.  Themison  neglected  the  precepts 
of  Asclepiades  in  many  resj^ects,  particularly  in 
giving  aloes  and  scammony.  What  we  know,  how- 
ever, of  his  curative  methods  does  not  impress  us 
with  a  very  high  idea  of  his  skill  in  the  treatment 
of  disease.  He  recommended  bleeding  in  apoplexy, 
and  also  applied  the  trepan,  probably  with  the  view 
of  more  certainly  disgorging  the  bloodvessels. 

He  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  made  use 
of  leeches ;  he  regarded  the  plantain  as  a  universal 
remedy,  and  wrote  an  ex  professo  treatise  on  the  vir- 
tues of  that  plant.  Coelius  Aurelianus  relates  a 
singular  fact  of  Themison,  that,  having  been  bitten 
by  a  mad  dog,  or  probably  remaining  too  long  with 
a  friend  laboring  under  hydrophobia,  he  contracted 
the  same  disease.  He  cured  himself,  but,  when  he 
attempted  to  explain  the  method,  he  relapsed.  This, 
however,  could  only  have  been  a  high  degree  of  hy- 
pochondriasis. He  was  the  author  of  several  works, 
from  which  Coelius  Aurelianus  has  preserved  short 


FREED  MAN  PHYSICIAN  OF  A  UG  USTUS.  1 5  9 

extracts ;  but  there  is  nothing  very  important  con- 
tained in  them. 

Amongst  his  numerous  disciples  were  Eudemus, 
who  advised  the  administration  of  clysters  of  cold 
water  in  inflammation  of  the  bowels,  Vettius  Valens, 
and  Antonius  Musa.  The  latter,  who  lived  a  short 
time  after  Themison,  was  the  freed  man  of  Augus- 
tus, and  is  celebrated  for  a  fortunate  cure  produced 
on  that  emperor.  Augustus  had  been  for  a  long 
time  affected  with  a  severe  disease,  respecting  the 
nature  of  which  historians  do  not  give  us  any 
accurate  information,  and  which  the  physicians  had 
aggravated  by  the  administration  of  healing  reme- 
dies. Musa  succeeded  in  curing  him  by  the  simple 
use  of  cold  bathing.  Augustus  and  the  Senate,  out 
of  gratitude,  not  only  accorded  him  a  considerable 
sum,  but  also  decreed  to  him  the  title  of  knight,  and 
a  statue  of  brass  in  the  temple  of  ^sculapius.  Dion 
Cassius  asserts  that,  emboldened  by  this  brilliant 
success,  Musa  also  ordered  cold  bathing  to  Marcellus, 
but  it  occasioned  the  young  prince's  death.  Musa 
introduced  into  medicine  the  flesh  of  the  viper  in 
cases  of  malignant  ulcers,  as  well  as  the  lettuce, 
chiccory,  and  endive. 

The  system  of  Themison  seems  to  have  had  no 
very  violent  opponent  or  defendant ;  so  far  as  we  can 
collect  the  opinions  of  physicians,  they  were  divided 
between  the  pores  of  Asclepiades  and  the  strictum 
or  laxum  of  Themison,  and  practitioners  would  seem 
to  have  reasoned  with  some  freedom,  though  with 
no  striking  marks  of  genius  or  ability. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

STATE    OF    MEDICINE    DURINa  THE    EARLY  CENTURIES  OF 
THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA. 

Cornelius  Celsus,  the  medical  Cicero — His  views  on  anatomy, 
surgery,  etc. — Elegant  Latinity  of  his  works — Contempt  of 
Pliny  for  the  Roman  practitioners  of  this  age — Medical  preten- 
sions of  Thessalus  Trallianus — Symmachus  and  his  clinics — 
The  first  medical  lexicographer — The  subdivisions  of  the  me- 
thodic sect — Aretseus  and  his  medical  practice — Medical  writ- 
ings of  Soranus — Claudius  Galenus  (Galen),  his  life  and  ser- 
vices, writings,  etc. — The  immediate  successors  of  Galen — State 
of  medical  literature  at  this  period — School  of  Alexandria — 
Study  of  medicine  in  Persia — Celebrated  medical  school  at 
Edessa,  and  its  professors — Establishment  of  the  first  institu- 
tion for  clinical  instruction. 

Cornelius  Celsus  was  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished ornaments  of  the  methodic  sect,  who  brought 
back,  or  greatly  contributed  to  bring  back,  physicians 
to  the  patient  study  and  observation  recommended 
by  Hippocrates.  Respecting  this  elegant  writer, 
this  medical  Cicero  as  he  has  been  termed,  we  possess 
but  few  details ;  we  know  only  that  he  received  an 
excellent  education,  that  he  embraced  the  methodic 
sect  when  in  its  infancy,  and  that  the  work  for 
which  he  is  celebrated  formed  only  a  small  part  of 
a  great  encyclopedia.  Although  we  have  no  sub- 
stantial proofs  that  he  was  a  physician,  he  has  de- 


ANATOMICAL    VIEWS  OF  CELSUS.  i6l 

scribed  several  operations  too  accurately  not  to  have 
seen  them  practised. 

Bianconi  presumes  that  Celsus  was  secretary  to 
Tiberius,  and  that  he  accompanied  the  emperor  in 
his  expedition  to  the  East ;  an  opinion  which  is  prob- 
able, for  Horace  in  his  Epistle  to  Florus  speaks  of 
Celsus  and  of  the  compilation  which  he  made  from 
the  library  of  the  Palatine  Mount : — 

"Let  Celsus  be  admonished  o'er  and  o'er, 
To  search  the  treasures  of  his  native  store  : 
Nor  touch  what  Phoebus  consecrates  to  fame, 
Lest,  when  the  birds  their  various  plumage  claim, 
Stripp'd  of  his  stolen  pride,  the  crow  forlorn 
Should  stand  the  laughter  of  the  public  scorn." 

Hov.  lib.  1,  e'p.  3. 

Bianconi  also  endeavors  to  prove  that  he  was  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  Ovid. 

In  his  work  on  agriculture,  he  treated  of  the  vete- 
rinary art.  His  books  entitled  I)e  Re  medicd,  although 
almost  exclusively  devoted  to  surgery,  contain  seve- 
ral facts  which  permit  us  to  form  an  idea  of  the 
state  of  anatomy,  of  medicine  properly  so  called,  and 
of  the  different  other  branches  of  the  science  at  that 
period.  Celsus  defends  anatomy  against  the  empirics, 
who,  as  before  observed,  neglected  it.  The  descrip- 
tion which  he  gives  of  the  structure  of  certain  jDarts 
proves  that  he  had  himself  dissected  human  bodies  ; 
whilst  that  of  others,  on  the  contrary, — of  the  liver, 
for  example,^was  evidently  described  from  the  or- 
ganization of  animals.  He  does  not  always  distin- 
guish arteries  from  veins,  and  had  not  a  very  correct 
11 


1 6  2  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

idea  respecting  the  nerves,  for  he  sometimes  gives 
that  name  to  tendons  and  even  to  muscles. 

Several  of  his  principles  on  semeiology,  or  symp- 
tomatology, and  on  clinical  or  bedside  medicine,  are 
derived  from  the  writings  of  Hippocrates  and  of  the 
ancient  Greeks.  Some  resemble  those  of  Asclepiades 
and  Themison.  He  rejects  the  critical  days,  recom- 
mends and  censures,  as  the  case  may  be,  in  different 
placeSjthe  use  of  purgatives,  particularly  recommends 
friction,  exercise,  and  bathing  in  chronic  affections, 
and  first  speaks  of  the  utility  of  analeptic,  or  nu- 
tritive, glysters.  He  was,  however,  tinctured  with 
considerable  suj^erstition,  and  mentions  with  confi- 
dence several  superstitious  medicines  for  the  cure  of 
epilepsy,  as  the  warm  blood  of  a  recently  slain  gladi- 
ator or  a  certain  portion  of  human  or  horse  fiesh. 

Some  of  his  surgical  precepts  may  be  advantage- 
ously followed  even  at  the  present  day.  His  method 
for  performing  the  operation  of  lithotomy,  the  mode 
of  extracting  stone  from  the  bladder  by  the  smaller 
app)aratus,  has  been  strongly  supported  in  modern 
times,  and  is  more  especially  applicable  to  children. 
His  rules  relative  to  the  application  of  the  trepan 
merit  great  commendation,  taking  into  account  the 
time  at  which  they  were  written.  At  that  period 
obstetrics,  or  the  art  of  midwifery,  was  in  a  very 
rude  state ;  it  was^  confined  to  the  forcible  extrac- 
tion of  the  child,  which  was  frequently  pulled  with 
such  violence  as  to  be  taken  away  piecemeal. 

Cataract  was  removed  by  depression.  Celsus  also 
speaks  of  some  particular  operations  performed  in 
his  time  at  Rome,  as,  for  example,  the  formation  of 


SURGERY  OF  CELSUS.  163 

an  artificial  prepuce  in  cases  where  the  original  does 
not  cover  the  glans,  and  of  infibulating  boys  in 
order  to  preserve  their  voice  for  the  purpose  of  sing- 
ing, and  gladiators  to  preserve  their  strength  by 
keeping  them  from  venereal  excesses.  ''The  skin 
that  covers  the  glans,"  he  observes,  "is  extended  and 
marked  on  both  sides  with  ink,  where  it  may  be 
perforated,  and  then  it  is  let  go.  If  these  marks 
return  upon  the  glans,  too  much  has  been  taken  up, 
and  it  ought  to  be  marked  nearer  the  extremity ;  if 
the  glans  is  not  reached  by  them,  that  part  is  proper 
for  the  fibula.  Then  where  the  marks  are,  the  skin 
is  pierced  by  a  needle  followed  by  a  thread,  and  the 
two  ends  of  this  thread  are  tied  together,  and  moved 
every  day,  till  small  cicatrices  are  formed  about  the 
orifice.  When  these  are  confined  the  thread  is  taken 
out,  and  a  fibula  or  clasp  put  in ;  and  the  lighter  it 
is,  so  much  the  better.  But  the  operation,"  he  wisely 
remarks,  "is  more  frequently  needless  than  neces- 
sary." 

Celsus  may  be  considered  rather  as  an  epitome  of 
the  maxims  of  his  predecessors  than  himself  an  ob- 
ject of  historical  research  ;  those,  however,  who  are 
anxious  to  study  the  opinions  and  practice  of  the 
ancient  physicians  will  find  them  correctly  detailed 
in  his  works.  They  are  worthy  of  perusal  as  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  most  elegant  Latinity  Avith  which  medi- 
cal literature  has  been  enriched. 

Plin}^  has  been  reproached  with  bearing  an  im- 
placable hatred  to  the  physicians,  his  contempo- 
raries, and  with  painting  them  in  the  most  odious 
colors.     There  is  not  the  least  reason,  however,  for 


1 64  HI  ST  OR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

regarding  as  a  calumny  all  that  he  has  said  of  the 
Roman  practitioners,  and  the  contempt  with  which 
he  speaks  of  them  is  not  wholly  unmerited.  At  the 
period  of  which  we  are  now  detailing  the  history, 
the  capital  of  the  world  was  inundated  with  physi- 
cians, whose  principal  aim  appeared  to  be  to  acquire 
riches  and  honors,  to  elevate  their  own  schools  on  the 
ruins  of  the  ancient,  and  .to  blind  the  people  by  the 
establishment  of  new  systems  or  by  the  invention  of 
obsolete  modes  of  treatment. 

Amongst  others,  Crixas,  a  physician  of  Marseilles 
(A.D.  54-68),  introduced  astrology  into  medicine, 
and  was  desirous  of  subjecting  the  regimen  of  the 
sick  to  the  course  of  the  stars ;  and,  notwithstanding 
these  absurdities,  he  acquired  a  sufficiently  large  for- 
tune to  fortify,  at  his  own  expense,  several  towns  of 
his  own  country. 

Thessalus  Tralliaxus  (A.D.  54-68),  however,  sur- 
passed all  his  contemporaries,  and  perhaps  all  his 
predecessors,  in  the  low  manoeuvres  of  charlatanry. 
His  father  was  of  the  lowest  rank,  and  Thessalus 
himself  without  the  advantag-es  of  education.  This 
is  the  account,  indeed,  of  Galen,  who,  on  every  oc- 
casion, eagerly  censures  him;  but  Pliny  as  well 
accuses  him  of  the  most  disgusting  arrogance  and 
the  most  consummate  ignorance.  A  man,  says 
Sprengel,  who  heaped  the  most  gross  epithets  on 
the  ancients,  who  cited  them  all  before  his  tribu- 
nals, and  was  at  once  judge  and  party,  who  gave 
himself  the  title  of  chief  of  physicians,  because  he 
believed  himself  to  excel  all  other  practitioners;  a 
man  so  little  versed  in  the  literature  of  the  Greeks 


A  SATIRE  ON  CLINICAL   TEACHING.  165 

that  he  accused  Hippocrates  of  having  killed  his 
patients  by  overloading  them  with  nourishment;  a 
man  who  had  the  audacity  to  write  to  I^ero  that  his 
predecessors  had  contributed  nothing  to  the  progress 
of  science;  a  man, finally,  who  flattered  the  great, 
and  boasted  of  beins;  able  to  teach  the  healino-  art 
in  six  months ;  has  such  a  man  any  right  to  pretend 
to  the  esteem  of  posterity?  He  had,  in  fact,  at- 
tracted a  great  number  of  disciples,  but  they  were 
all  rope-makers,  cooks,  butchers,  weavers,  tanners, 
and,  in  a  word,  artisans,  whom  he  took  for  six 
months  to  visit  patients,  and  then  accorded  them 
the  privilege  of  killing  with  impunity. 

The  custom  followed  by  physicians  of  taking  their 
students  with  them  is  satirized  by  Martial  in  the 
following  epigram: — 

"Languebam  ;  sed  tu  comitatns  protinus  ad  me 
Venisti  centum,  Symmache,  discipulis. 
Centum  me  tetigere  manus,  aquilone  gelatse  ; 
Non  habui  febrem,  Symmache,  nunc  habeo." 

Martial.,  lib.  5,  ep.  9. 

I  send  for  Symmaclms  ;  he  's  here, 

A  hundred  pupils  following  in  his  rear. 

They  feel  my  pulse,  with  hands  as  cold  as  snow  ; 

I  had  no  fever  then,  I  have  it  now. 

The  system  of  Thessalus  differed  but  little  from 
that  of  Asclepiades  and  Themison.  It  is,  however, 
scarcely  capable  of  being  rendered  intelligible.  He 
made  use  of  the  ideas  of  Asclepiades  relative  to  the 
relationship  between  the  primary  corpuscles  and 
their  pores,  to  establish  a  new  indication  which  was 
to  be  followed  up  when  the  ordinary  signs  of  strictum 
and  laxum   failed.     This  new  indication  he  called 


1 6  6  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

metasj'n crisis,  or  the  restoration  of  the  relationship 
which,  in  a  natural  state,  exists  between  the  pores 
and  the  corpuscles. 

Galen  accuses  him  of  not  having  the  least  idea  of 
the  action  of  medicines,  although  he  had  written 
upon  the  subject.  The  chief  works  of  Thessalus, 
quoted  by  Coelius  Aurelianus,  relate  to  diet ;  but 
G-alen  mentions  his  name  connected  with  a  subject 
of  surgery,  which  leads  us  to  suppose  that  he  may 
have  written  some  surgical  tract.  Xone  of  his  prac- 
tical opinions  are  worthy  of  notice. 

About  the  period  embraced  by  the  methodic  sect 
lived  EuFUS  Ephesius  (A.D.  98-117),  who  was  per- 
haps the  first  medical  lexicographer,  as  well  as 
Erotian,  whose  "  Lexicon  Hippocraticum"  is  still  a 
work  of  great  value.  In  this  era  also,  from  the  age 
of  E'ero  to  that  of  Trajan,  lived  Dioscorides  and 
Pliny.^ 

The  sect  of  the  methodists  was,  however,  at  no 
period  very  generally  followed,  and  about  this  time 
it  was  subdivided  into  many  others.  One  of  these, 
the  Episynthetics  as  it  was  termed  by  its  founder,  or 
Eclectic  sect,  endeavored  to  reconcile  the  various 
discordant  opinions  of  difterent  authors,  and  to  se- 
lect from  each  system  what  seemed  the  most  philoso- 
phical. The  chief  of  the  eclectics  was  Agathinus  of 
Sparta ;  and  of  its  supporters,  Archigenes  of  Apamea 
and  Philip  of  Cffisarea. 

*  The  extensive  Tvork  of  the  latter  on  natural  history  has 
furnished  several  data  for  this  medical  history,  and  the  depart- 
ment of  materia  medica  is  considerably  indebted  to  both  these 
authorities. 


ARETjEUS.  167 


Another  sect  into  which  the  methodists  were  sub- 
divided was  the  Pneumatic.  The  chief  of  this  sect 
was  Athen^eus  of  Attaleia,  a  man  whose  system, 
according  to  Galen,  was  polished  with  greater  skill 
than  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  Athe- 
neeus  supposed  that  fire,  air,  water,  and  earth  were 
not  really  elements,  but  that  their  qualities,  heat, 
cold,  dry,  and  moist,  merited  that  title.  Like  the 
Stoics,  he  introduced  a  fifth  principle,  viz.,  a  spirit 
or  air  governing  and  directing  everything,  and  oc- 
casionally when  ofiended  inducing  diseases.  From 
this  same  principle  it  is  that  they  were  styled  Pneu- 
matists. 

The  fame,  however,  of  all  the  followers  of  Athenseus 
was  eclipsed  by  that  of  Aret^us.  It  is  a  singular 
circumstance  that  he  never  mentions  Galen,  nor  did 
any  person  notice  him  prior  to  Aetius.  He  was 
educated  in  the  principles  of  the  pneumatic  school, 
and  subsequently  embraced  those  of  the  eclectic  and 
partly  of  the  pneumatic.  His  language  has  always 
been  esteemed  for  its  luminous  terseness.  The 
nerves,  he  supposed,  did  not  grow  from  their  origin 
to  their  termination  in  straight  lines,  but  crossed 
each  other  in  the  form  of  an  X,  passing  in  this  way 
to  opposite  sides.  He  thus  explains  why,  where  the 
head  has  been  injured  on  one  side,  the  disease  is  felt 
on  the  side  opposite. 

His  practice  was  without  question  the  most  judi- 
cious of  the  ancient  physicians,  and  was  infinitely 
more  simple  and  rational  than  could  be  expected  in 
one  of  that  age.  He  employed  few  and  almost  al- 
ways simple  medicines,  and  was  particularly  fond  of 


1 68  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

giving  emetics,  especially  the  white  hellebore.  He 
used  the  most  active  purgatives,  and  bled  frequently 
and  freely  from  different  parts,  although  he  argued 
against  the  refinement  of  some  practitioners,  who 
preferred  small  veins,  which  are  only  the  branches  of 
those  whence  blood  is  usually  taken.  He  employed 
arteriotomy,  cupping-glasses,  and  leeches,  but  pre- 
ferred curing  acute  diseases  by  diet.  He  gave  wine 
more  freely  than  former  physicians,  and  employed 
opiates  with  little  reserve.  The  castor  was  one  of  his 
most  favorite  remedies  as  a  nervous  and  antispas- 
modic, thinking  it  also  a  promoter  of  digestion.  He 
administered  it  in  almost  all  chronic  diseases.  He 
recommended  asses',  mares',  sheep's,  and  woman's 
milk,  used  frictions  and  the  actual  cautery,  and  ad- 
vised the  operation  of  lithotomy.  Practitioners,  in 
short,  of  any  age  will  derive  from  Aretseus  the  most 
wise  and  useful  medical  observations.  His  practice 
was  active,  enlightened,  and  discriminating. 

An  author  of  the  era  of  the  methodic  sect  was  Sora- 
Nus  of  Ephesus  (A.D.  98-138) ;  his  works  have  been 
lost,  which  is  a  source  of  regret,  as  G-alen,  who  omits 
no  opportunity  of  criticizing  the  methodics,  speaks 
respectfully  of  Soranus.  They  were  translated  in  a 
barbarous  style  by  Coelius  Auroelianus,  but  even  in 
this  dress  they  have  reached  us  in  an  imperfect  state. 
Yet,  from  Coelius,  we  have  the  only  systematic  and 
connected  views  of  the  methodic  doctrine,  for  by 
Soranus  only  was  it  brought  to  a  perfect  state.  It 
has  been,  indeed,  generally  conceived  that  the  writ- 
ings published  under  the  name  of  Coelius  Aurelianus 
were  due  to  Soranus. 


PNE  UMA  TIC  AND  E CLE C TIC  SCHO OLS.  169 

As  the  cycles  of  the  methodists  are  often  men- 
tioned in  medical  works,  a  brief  description  of  their 
meaning  will  not  be  inappropriate.  The  cycles  were 
periods  supposed  to  consist  of  three  days  each,  or 
combinations  of  three,  and  during  these  the  same 
plans  of  treatment  were  continued,  but  at  the  end 
of  each  cycle  the  exertions  were  increased  so  as  at 
last  to  rise  to  the  most  active  measures.  The  re- 
sumptive cycle  consisted  of  common  foods ;  the  meta- 
syncritic  of  a  more  acrid  and  stimulating  diet,  with 
frictions,  baths,  rubefacients,  sternutatories,  &c.  The 
cyclus  vomitorius  was  distinguished  into  two,  accord- 
ing as  the  vomits  accompanied  the  sparer  diet  of  the 
first,  or  the  more  stimulating  diet  of  the  second. 
Each  cycle  consisted  of  four  diatritio,  though  some- 
times prolonged  to  sixteen  days ;  the  additional 
diatritios  containing  four  days. 

Several  other  physicians  and  surgeons  of  the 
pneumatic  and  eclectic  schools  followed  Aretseus  or 
were  his  contemporaries,  but  it  is  only  necessary  to 
state  the  names  of  the  chief  of  them,  such  as  Cassius 
the  lathrosophist,  Herodotus,  a  pupil  of  Agathinus, 
Magnus  of  Ephesus,  Heliodorus,  a  celebrated  sur- 
geon under  Trajan,  Antyllus,  Philagrias,  and  Leo- 
nides  of  Alexandria.  The  three  last  mentioned 
flourished,  however,  a  century  or  two  later.  They 
all  published  works  on  different  branches  of  the 
healing  art,  but  we  only  know  of  them  by  the  ex- 
tracts given  by  Aetius  and  others. 

Of  all  the  ph^^sicians  of  antiquity,  not  one  per- 
haps possessed  a  more  brilliant  genius  or  more  ex- 


I  70  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

tensive  erudition  than  Claudius  Galenus  of  Perga- 
mus,  who  was  born  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Adrian,  not,  as  Dr.  Parr  asserts,  under  that  of  Severus. 
At  the  time  of  his  appearance  the  schools  of  medi- 
cine were  a  prey  to  the  most  pernicious  dissensions ; 
the  partisans  of  the  schools  of  Erasistratus,  of  Hippo- 
crates, Herophilus,  and  of  the  empirical,  methodical, 
eclectic,  and  pneumatic  sects,  divided  in  their  opin- 
ions, agreed  but  in  one  point,  that  of  converting 
medicine  into  a  tissue  of  frivolous  subtleties  and  use- 
less discussions.  In  the  midst  of  this  disorder  Galen 
appeared,  and  led  back  to  the  safer  road  of  patient 
thinking  and  accurate  observation  which  so  much 
distinguished  the  Hippocratic  school. 

This  extraordinary  man  was  born  at  Pergamns  in 
Asia  Minor,  in  the  132d  year  of  the  vulgar  era.  In 
his  writings  he  has  suffered  no  opportunity  to  escape 
him  of  representing  his  father,  whose  name  was 
!N"ico,  and  who  followed  the  profession  of  an  archi- 
tect, as  well  informed,  active,  and  of  an  excellent 
character,  but  he  relates  a  multitude  of  scandalous 
anecdotes  of  his  mother  Xantij^pe.  His  father  gave 
him  an  excellent  education,  and  himself  initiated 
him  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Aristotelian  philosophy. 
He  afterwards  studied  philosophy  under  a  Platonist 
named  Gains,  a  stoic  and  an  epicurean.  AVhen  still 
young,  he  had  made  such  progress  in  the  stoical 
dialectics  that  he  wrote  commentaries  on  the  dialectics 
of  Chrysippus ;  but  he  himself  thought  but  little  of 
that  production.  He  asserts  also  that  but  for  the 
natural  spirit  with  which  he  was  endowed,  and  the 


GALEN,  171 

mclinatiou  which  he  felt  for  geometrical  demonstra- 
tions, he  would  infallibly  have  sunk  into  the  dark- 
ness of  Pyrrhonism.  A  dream  determined  his  father 
to  educate  him  for  the  practice  of  medicine. 

Satyrus,  a  skilful  anatomist  for  the  times,  and  a 
disciple  of  Quintus,  then  much  celebrated  ;  Strato- 
nicus,  a  physician  of  the  Hippocratic  school,  and 
^schrion,  attached  to  the  sect  of  the  empirics,  taught 
him  in  turn  the  principles  of  their  systems.  After 
the  death  of  his  father,  young  Galen,  aged  twenty- 
one,  went  to  Smyrna  to  hear  the  lectures  of  Pelops, 
a  disciple  of  I^umesianus,  and  those  of  the  Platonist 
Albinus.  Thence  he  returned  to  Corinth  in  order 
to  study  under  Kumesianus,  a  celebrated  philosopher, 
and  disciple  of  Quintus.  Soon  afterwards  he  travelled 
for  the  purpose  of  adding  to  his  knowledge,  and  es- 
pecially of  acquiring  novelties  in  natural  history. 
Amongst  others  he  journeyed  over  Lycia  to  seek  for 
the  black  ashes,  a  species  of  bitumen,  and  subse- 
quently passed  into  Palestine  to  collect  the  asphaltes 
of  the  Dead  Sea. 

At  this  period  Alexandria  was  in  some  measure 
the  centre  of  the  learned  world ;  and  the  best  title  of 
recommendation,  as  we  have  had  occasion  previously 
to  observe,  to  a  physician,  was  to  have  studied  in 
that  city.  Galen  therefore  resolved  to  stay  some 
time  there  and  to  improve  himself  in  anatomy,  which 
was  nowhere  cultivated  with  so  much  zeal.  Hera- 
clianus,  respecting  whom  we  know  nothing  more, 
is  the  one  of  all  his  masters  of  whom  he  speaks  in 
the  highest  terms.  At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  he 
returned  to  his  own  country,  where  the  priests  of  ^s- 


1 7  2  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

culapius  and  the  gymnasiarchs  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  temple  placed  the  athletse,  or  wrestlers,  under 
his  care. 

A  revolt  which  took  place  at  Pergamus  was  the 
occasion  of  his  quitting  that  city,  and  the  advantages 
which  oiiered  themselves  to  the  Greek  physicians 
induced  him  to  choose  the  capital  of  the  world  for 
his  residence.  He  was  then  thirty-four  years  of  age. 
Here  his  successful  practices,  his  extreme  sagacity 
in  prognosis,  and  his  great  knowledge  of  anatomy 
were  not  long  in  giving  him  so  much  celebrity  that 
he  became  an  object  of  jealousy  to  all  the  physicians 
of  Eome.  Several  of  the  grandees  and  philosophers 
of  the  empire  persuaded  him  to  open  public  lectures 
on  anatomy,  but  he  connected  himself  more  espe- 
cially with  the  Consul  Boethius,  the  philoso]3hers 
Eudemus  and  Alexander  of  Damas,  and  with  Severus 
who  subsequently  wore  the  imperial  purple. 

It  is  presumable  that  his  practice  at  Rome  was 
never  very  extensive,  as  he  mentions  having  gone 
twice  a  day  into  the  country  to  visit  one  of  his  ser- 
vants who  was  laboring  under  ophthalmia.  Accord- 
ing to  his  own  account,  observing  the  implacable 
hatred  of  the  Eoman  physicians,  who  heaped  upon 
him  the  most  offensive  epithets,  he  determined  on  the 
breaking  out  of  a  destructive  epidemic  to  set  off  for 
Brinde,  where  he  embarked  for  Glreece. 

Some  have,  however,  narrated  this  event  in  a 
manner  not  quite  so  honorable  to  Galen,  by  asserting 
that  his  fear  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  plague  was 
thesolereasonfor  his  quitting  the  city  and  depriving 
it  of  his  valuable  assistance.     He  was  at  this  period 


INTERESTING  POINTS  IN  GALEN'S  CAREER.     173 

ill  his  thirty-fifth  year,  when  he  visited  different 
parts  of  Palestine  and  the  Isle  of  Cyprus,  with  a 
view  of  improving  himself  in  natural  history,  and 
returned  again  to  Rome,  in  spite  of  the  hatred  of 
his  brethren,  which  he  asserts  had  previously  driven 
him  away.  In  fact,  about  a  year  after  he  had  left 
that  city,  the  Emperors  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Lucius 
Verus  being  at  Aquileia,  where  they  were  preparing 
for  war  ao-ainst  the  Marcomanni  and  other  Germanic 
nations,  he  was  called  in  to  attend  upon  them.  At 
Aquileia  he  remained  with  them  for  some  time,  but 
a  plague  having  broken  out  in  the  environs,  and 
Lucius  Verus  having  died  of  it,  terror  again  pos- 
sessed him,  and  he  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  was 
appointed  physician  to  the  young  Emperor  Com- 
modus. 

The  year  at  which  he  returned  to  his  country  is 
not  known,  nor  is  the  period  of  his  death.  One  pas- 
sage in  his  writings  clearly  proves  that  he  was  still 
living  under  the  reigns  of  Pertinax  and  of  Septimus 
Severus,  who  ascended  the  Imperial  chair  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety-seven  years  after  Christ.  Suidas 
asserts  that  he  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy. 

The  differences  of  sentiment  which  reigned  at  that 
period  had  inspired  Galen  with  a  disgust  for  all  sects, 
and  the  study  which  he  had  made  of  the  different 
systems  taught  him  the  defects  of  each,  but  occa- 
sioned also  that  discordance  in  his  opinions,  which 
frequently  degenerates  into  contradiction. 

Although  he  asserts  that  the  enemies  of  Hippoc- 
rates were  either  ignorant  or  punctilious  dialecticians 
whose  discussions  are  frequently  repugnant  to  the 
most  common  sense,  he  is  not  himself  entirely  free 


1 74  IIISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

from  that  reproach.  His  works  are  not  exempt  from 
subtleties  which  ought  to  be  attributed  to  the  dia- 
lectic method  generally  adopted  in  all  the  medical 
schools.  Although  he  declared  that  he  had  no  wish 
to  dispute  about  words,  we  cannot  help  observing 
several  real  disputes  respecting  words  in  more  than 
one  place  of  his  writings.  He  endeavors  to  excuse 
his  prolixity  by  the  necessity  for  completely  refuting 
his  adversaries,  whom  he  on  all  occasions  loads 
with  the  most  gross  abuse ;  pretends  to  have  always 
avoided  repetition,  although  a  perusal  of  his  writ- 
ings discovers  them  every  instant,  and  in  vain 
attempts  to  prove  that  he  is  devoid  of  pretension, 
that  he  attaches  no  value  to  the  suffrages  of  men, 
that  truth  and  the  progress  of  science  are  the  ends 
of  his  exertions,  and  that  on  this  account  he  never 
put  his  name  at  the  head  of  his  works. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  assertions,  he  had  an 
overweening  idea  of  his  own  merit,  and  had  the  in- 
sufferable vanity  to  assert  in  the  ninth  book  of  the 
eight  chapter,  "  de  Methodo  medendi  ad  Glaiiconem^'' 
that  if  Hippocrates  had  rendered  a  service  to  medicine 
by  opening  the  true  road,  it  was  he  who  had  removed 
all  difficulties  :  that  he  first  had  shown  the  true  me- 
thod of  treating  disease,  and  that  he  had  produced 
in  medicine,  what  Trajan  had  done  for  the  Roman 
Empire,  a  considerable  extension  of  its  limits. 

The  following  are  the  principal  services  rendered 
by  Galen  to  each  branch  of  the  healing  art,  com- 
mencing with  anatomy.  Galen,  as  before  observed, 
was  instructed  on  this  subject  at  Alexandria,  the 
cradle  of  anatomy.     Without  devoting   himself  to 


MEDICAL  SERVICES  OF  GALEN.  175 

very  minute  researches,  he  properly  regarded  it  as  the 
foundation  of  the  healing  art.  He  appears,  however, 
on  very  few  occasions  to  have  added  to  the  discove- 
ries of  his  predecessors  by  opening  dead  bodies,  and 
nowhere  mentions  having  drawn  his  descriptions 
from  inspection  of  the  human  subject,  speaking  only 
of  his  numerous  dissections  of  monkeys  and  other 
animals.  He  expresses  his  happiness  at  having  been 
able  to  observe  at  Alexandria  two  human  skeletons, 
one  of  which  was  that  of  a  robber  who  had  been  de- 
prived of  se]Dulture,  and  he  advises  those  who  would 
study  osteology  to  repair  to  that  city.  He  recom- 
mended also  those  kinds  of  monkeys  to  be  dissected 
whose  structure  approximated  the  nearest  to  that  of 
man,  in  order  that  they  might  not  be  embarrassed 
when  an  opportunity  presented  itself  for  opening  a 
dead  body. 

The  inaccurate  application  of  observations  miade 
on  animals  is  particularly  manifest  in  his  osteology. 
The  sacrum,  he  asserts,  is  formed  only  of  three  por- 
tions, and  the  coccyx  in  some  measure  constitutes  a 
fourth.  Seven  distinct  species,  he  asserts,  compose 
the  sternum  or  breast  bone.  In  myology,  or  the 
knowledge  of  the  muscles,  he  has  made  some  im- 
portant discoveries.  He  first  observed  the  poplitseus 
muscle  and  the  platysma  myoides.  He  pretends  also 
to  have  discovered,  and  has  certainly  described  with 
accuracy,  the  origin  of  the  tendo  Achillis.  His 
angeiology  is  not  much  more  complete  than  that  of 
Herophilus  and  Erasistratus.  As  a  proof  of  this  he 
asserts  that  the  veins  arise  in  the  liver  and  the  arte- 
ries from  the  heart,  although  both  originate  from  the 
latter. 


1 7  6  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

The  pathology  of  G-alen  has  made  considerable 
noise  in  the  medical  world,  and  for  a  space  of  six- 
teen hundred  years  was  almost  implicitly  followed. 
He  gave  to  every  change  in  the  humors  the  name  of 
putridity,  which  is  said  to  take  place  whenever  any 
humor  in  a  state  of  stagnation  is  exposed  to  a  high 
temperature  without  evaporating.  Hence,  the  sedi- 
ment in  the  urine  was  esteemed  a  proof  of  putridity. 
Previous  to  every  fever,  he  asserts,  there  is  a 
species  of  putridity  which  occasions  preternatural 
heat;  this  becomes  the  cause  of  fever,  because  the 
heat  and  arterial  system  take  part  in  it.  All  fevers 
proceed  from  a  degenerate  condition  of  the  humors, 
with  the  exception  of  the  ephemera  or  dry  fever, 
which  is  owing  to  a  particular  state  of  the  pneuma 
or  spirit.  Amongst  intermittent  fevers,  Galen  at- 
tributes" the  quotidian  to  derangement  of  the  phlegm, 
the  tertian  to  that  of  the  bile,  and  the  quartan  to 
the  putrescence  of  the  atrabile  or  black  bile;  this 
latter  humor,  he  conceives  more  difficult  to  put  in 
motion,  and  requiring  the  longest  time  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  paroxysms. 

Galen  accounts  for  inflammation  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  blood  into  a  part  which  did  not  previ- 
ously contain  it.  If  the  pneuma  insinuates  itself 
along  with  the  blood,  the  inflammation  is  then 
pneumatoid;  if  the  blood  be  alone,  the  inflamma- 
tion is  then  pure  or  phlegmonoid;  cedematoid  if 
accompanied  with  phlegm;  erysipelatoid  when  uni- 
ted with  bile,  and  scirrhous  if  joined  with  atra- 
bile. The  terms  phlegmonoid  and  erysipelatoid 
liave  since  been  used  to  designate  different  characters 


INFLUENCE  OF  GALEN S  DOCTRINES.  177 

of  inflammation,  although  they  are  now  accounted 
for  more  philosophically  than  in  the  absurd  manner 
of  Galen. 

Galen  professed  to  select  from  each  of  his  prede- 
cessors what  was  most  valuable,  but  he  has  almost 
exclusively  confined  himself  to  commenting  on  and 
illustrating  the  works  of  Hippocrates,  which  he 
thought  succeeding  physicians  had  either  misunder- 
stood or  misrepresented.  He  seems,  notwithstand- 
ing, to  have  taken  the  qualities  of  the  four  elements 
from  Athenseus ;  and,  though  Hippocrates  mentions 
somcAvhat  obscurely  the  pneuma  or  spirit,  Galen 
would  seem  to  have  borrowed  his  pneuma  from  the 
pneumatic  sect  of  which  we  have  previously  spoken. 

The  life  and  opinions  of  Galen  have  befen  sketched 
at  some  length  on  account  of  the  very  extensive  in- 
fluence which  the  latter  had  on  succeeding'  genera- 
tions of  physicians,  and  even  still  have  in  some 
parts  of  the  world.  In  proof  of  this  blind  enthu- 
siasm for  his  opinions,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
Massaria,  a  professor  of  Pavia  in  the  16th  century, 
absolutely  declares  that  he  would  rather  err  with 
Galen  than  be  right  with  any  other  physician.  The 
doctrine  of  concoction,  first  broached  by  Hippo- 
crates, but  established  in  the  school  of  Galen,  was, 
as  has  been  very  properly  observed,  one  of  the  most 
fatal  that  has  ever  been  promulgated.  By  this  term 
was  understood  such  a  change  in  the  morbid  matter, 
by  the  power  of  nature,  generally  with  the  assist- 
ance of  art,  as  renders  it  fit  for  separation  from  the 
healthy  parts  of  our  fluids,  and  to  be  thrown  out  of 
our  bodies. 
12 


1 78  HIST  OR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

His  doctrine,  as  applied  to  fevers,  exerted  the 
most  injurious  agency.  It  prevented  the  adminis- 
tration of  all-important  means  in  the  early  stages 
of  the  disease,  leaving  the  patients  to  its  ravages, 
and  when  the  idea  was  added  that  heat  was -the  in- 
strument by  which  the  favorable  change  was  effected, 
the  miseries  of  the  sufferers  were  considerably  aug- 
mented. The  curtains  were  drawn,  the  doors  and 
windows  shut,  the  fires  large  and  kept  up,  and  the 
food  and  medicines  of  the  most  heating  kind ;  all 
diametrially  oj^posite  to  the  practice  found  to  be  so 
highly  beneficial  at  the  present  day. 

The  theories  of  this  writer,  and  the  practice 
founded  upon  them,  are  now  almost  universally 
exploded,  and  they  are  principally  referred  to  as 
chronicles  of  the  state  of  medical  science  at  this 
time.  His  book  "<i6  Tuendd  Valetudine,''  and  an- 
other entitled  "  de  Teinperamentis,'"  afford  an  exam- 
ple of  his  opinions,  the  former  of  his  practical,  the 
latter  of  his  hypothetical  and  controversial. 

Of  the  immediate  successors  of  Galen  during  the 
third  and  fourth  centuries,  the  most  eminent  were 
Marcellus  of  Side  in  Pamphilia,  who  wrote  forty- 
two  books  on  medicine  in  hexameter  verses,  Sam- 
monicus  Serenus,  the  father  and  son,  Yindicianus, 
Theodorus  Priscianus,  and  Sextus  Placitus  Papiensis, 
who  recommended  the  heart  of  the  hare  to  be  placed 
upon  the  neck  for  the  cure  of  a  quartan  fever,  and 
a  boiled  new-born  puppy  to  be  eaten  to  preserve  the 
patient  from  colic  for  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

About  this  time  medical  literature  had  sunk  to  a 
very  low  pitch,  and  was  principally  occupied  by  the 


MEDICINE  IN  THE  EARL  V  CENTURIES.         179 

effusions  of  certain  monks,  the  absurdity  of  whose 
works  is  exemplified  in  those  of  Marcellus  Empiri- 
cus  of  Bourdeaux,  who  recommended  in  case  of  a 
stye  seated  on  the  right  eyelid,  that  it  should  be 
touch(#  with  three  fingers  of  the  left  hand,  the 
patient  spitting,  and  saying  three  times,  "iV^ec  mula 
iparit^  nee  lapis  lanamfert;  nee  hide  morbo  caput  crexat, 
auf  si  C7^eve7it,  tabeseat,'^  and  a  number  of  similar  ri- 
diculous ceremonies. 

During  the  first  centuries,  indeed,  of  the  Christian 
era,  theosophy  had  considerable  influence  over  the 
schools  in  which  medicine  was  taught.  In  the  first 
century  the  opinion  generally  received  was  that  the 
apostles  had  obtained  the  faculty  of  curing  all  diseases 
by  means  of  the  simple  apposition  of  the  hands  or 
by  inunction  with  holy  oils  and  ointments ;  and  it 
was  believed  that  the  disciples  of  Christ  had  trans- 
mitted the  power  which  they  had  received  from 
their  master  to  the  elders  of  each  community.  Thus, 
tradition  unfolds  to  us  the  history  of  incredible  cures 
performed  by  the  shade  of  St.  Peter,  by  St.  Martin 
of  Tours,  &c. 

These  circumstances,  which  might  be  readily  mul- 
tiplied, are  suflicient  to  exhibit  the  causes  which 
arrested  the  progress  of  medicine  and  retarded  the 
advancement  of  science.  In  the  4th  century  Chris- 
tianity had  extended  through  the  Roman  empire, 
and,  for  the  reasons  just  mentioned,  medical  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  was  everywhere  totally 
neglected,  if  we  except  at  Alexandria,  where,  even 
at  tliat  period,  it  was  held  in  some  account.  Zeno 
of  Cyprus  attracted  thither  numbers  of  students, 


i8o  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

and  it  was  from  this  school  that  emanated  the  cele- 
brated individual  to  be  now  mentioned. 

About  the  latter  end  of  the  4th  century  Oribasius 
of  Pergamus  or  of  Sardis,  who  was  physician  to  the 
Emperor  Julian,  lived.  At  that  monarch's  request 
he  made  extracts  from  all  the  works  left  by  the  an- 
cients, arranged  them  in  a  methodical  order,  and 
divided  them  into  seventy  books,  of  whicli  we  at 
the  present  day  possess  only  seventeen.  He  subse- 
quently extracted  from  this  collection  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  its  contents,  and  composed  a  book  of 
it,  which  he  called  a  Synopsis. 

In  these  compilations  we  seek  in  vain  for  any  new 
idea,  but  they  are  of  the  highest  value  to  the  histo- 
rian, and  may  be  consulted  with  advantage  by  him 
who  is  anxious  to  learn  the  ideas  of  several  great 
writers  of  antiquity.  Distinct  from  these  compila- 
tions, however,  Oribasius  published  several  works  of 
his  own,  which,  although  they  contain  but  little  new, 
show  that  he  was,  for  the  times  in  which  he  lived, 
well  informed  in  his  profession. 

About  the  same  era  lived  ^emesius,  first  bishop 
of  Emesa,  who  wrote  a  work  entitled  '-'-de  Naturd 
Hiimand."  His  physiology  will  be  understood  when 
it  is  stated  that  he  believed  the  semen  to  be  prepared 
in  the  brain,  that  it  descended  afterwards  by  the 
vessels  which  exist  behind  the  ears,  distributed  itself 
over  the  whole  body,  and  was  finally  deposited  in  the 
testicle.  JBetween  the  time  of  Oribasius  and  that 
of  Aetius  of  Amida  not  one  name  occurs  which  is 
worthy  of  mention,  nor  was  any  discovery  made 


CELEB R A  TED  PERSIAN  MEDICAL  SCHO  OL.      1 8 1 

with  which  we  are  acquainted  in  any  one  branch  of 
medical  science. 

The  school  of  Alexandria  still  continued  to  cul- 
tivate medicine,  shedding  at  long  intervals  some 
faint  glimmerings  of  light.  The  G-reeks,  oppressed 
by  the  superstitious  and  intolerant  Christians  of  this 
period,  gave  up  medical  instruction.  The  school  of 
Athens,  once  so  celebrated,  was  trodden  under  foot 
by  the  orthodoxy  of  the  Christian  emperors  of  the 
East ;  and,  in  place  of  encouraging,  they  persecuted 
the  pagan  philosophers  who  taught  medicine,  Justi- 
nian ordering  them  to  be  deprived  of  benefices  which 
they  had  possessed  for  ages,  and  directing  them  to 
be  bestowed  on  orthodox  Christians  only.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  dismemberment  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire and  the  destructive  invasion  of  the  barbarians 
of  the  ISTorth  completed  the  annihilation  of  medical 
instruction. 

The  Persian  empire  was  for  a  short  period  the 
only  place  where  medicine  could  be  cultivated  under 
the  protection  of  the  laws.  A  sect  of  Christians, 
the  N'estorians,  flying  from  the  persecutions  of  or- 
thodoxy, established  themselves  at  Edessa,  in  Meso- 
potamia, where  they  founded  a  school  of  medicine, 
which  soon  became  celebrated  for  the  number  and 
knowledge  of  the  professors,  and  for  the  excellence 
of  their  doctrines.  Pupils  hastened  thither  from  all 
parts,  where  they  studied  practical  medicine  in  a 
public  hospital,  probably  the  first  institution  for 
clinical  instruction.  One  of  the  most  celebrated 
professors  of  this  school  was  Stephen  of  Edessa. 

The   j^estorians   did   not  all,  however,  establish 


1 8  2  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

themselves  at  Edessa;  several  of  the  most  learned 
sought  an  asylum  in  the  neighboring  Mohammedan 
states.  In  the  city  of  Dschondisabour  they  founded  a 
school  of  medicine,  where  the  Persians  and  Arabians 
studied  the  healing  art,  and  it  was  from  these  l^es- 
torians,  from  those  at  Edessa,  and  from  the  Athenian 
philosophers  expelled  from  their  country  by  Justi- 
nian, that  the  Arabians  received  the  first  elements 
of  a  science  of  which  they  were  afterwards  the  re- 
storers, through  the  foundation  of  the  Academy  of 
Bagdad  by  the  Caliph  Almanzor.  From  time  to  time, 
however,  at  the  court  of  the  Emperors  of  Constan- 
tinojole  were  seen  physicians  distinguished  for  the 
extent  of  their  erudition,  such  as  Aetius  and  Alex- 
ander of  Tralles. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  IN  EUROPE  AND  THE  EAST  FROM  THE 
MIDDLE  OF  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

Epidemic  of  the  sixth  century — Aetius  of  Amida,  and  his  use 
of  charms — Alexander  Trallian — Theophilus — Paulus  JEgi- 
neta,  the  first  obstetric  physician — Medical  writers  and  practi- 
tioners of  the  next  centuries — Decay  of  medicine  in  the  West 
and  its  rise  in  the  East — Arabian  physicians  and  schools — 
Spanish  medical  schools  and  libraries — Progress  of  Arabian 
practice  of  medicine  and  surgery — First  writer  on  smallpox — 
First  account  of  academic  degrees  conferred— Serapion  the 
elder — Rhazes  and  his  works — Avicenna — Albucasis — Aven- 
zoar — Decline  of  science  in  Spain  and  the  East  in  the  eleventh, 
twelfth,  and  thirteenth  centuries. 

Being  more  particularly  interested  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  theories  and  progress  of  medicine,  we  need 
not  give  more  than  a  passing  allusion  to  the  preva- 
lence of  the  terrible  epidemic  which  made  the  sixth 
century  memorable.  Although  it  attacked  all  with- 
out distinction  of  age  or  mode  of  life,  and  reigned  in 
all  seasons  and  in  every  climate,  destroying,  it  is  said, 
one-half  of  the  population,  causing  all  the  arts  to  be 
abandoned,  and  whole  towns  to  be  deserted,  medical 
science  gained  but  little  from  the  awful  experience, 
and  no  information  of  value  has  been  handed  down  to 
posterity  for  practical  use  in  times  of  after-epidemics. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  that 
Aetius  of  Amida  in  Mesopotamia  flourished.    Like 


1 84  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

all  the  practitioners  of  his  time,  he  studied  at  Alex- 
andria. Aetius  pursued  the  same  steps  as  Oribasius, 
and  collected  everything  remarkable  from  the  exist- 
ing works  on  medicine.  Like  Oribasius,  also,  he  has 
given  us  his  own  opinions  respecting  various  points  of 
medical  science,  from  which  he  would  seem  to  have 
been  a  man  of  somewhat  extensive  practice,  but  his 
ideas  are  mixed  up  with  the  grossest  bigotry  and 
superstition.  In  dropsies  he  advises  punctures,  but 
the  observations  on  this  subject  are  taken  from  his 
predecessors.  His  remarks  on  cauteries,  both  actual 
and  potential,  are  more  particularly  his  own.  He 
advises  them  freely  in  many  complaints,  and  directs 
numerous  drains  to  be  made. 

Aetius  also  introduced  much  of  Egyptian  phar- 
macy, and  was  particularly  fond  of  external  applica- 
tions, as  well  as  of  charms  and  amulets  so  common  in 
the  same  country.  In  composing  a  certain  ointment 
he  required  that  there  should  be  repeated  in  a  loud 
voice,  ^' May  the  God  of  Abraham^  the  God  of  Isaac.,  and 
the  God  of  Jacob  deign  to  accord  virtues  to  this  raedi- 
cine  ;^^  and  when  a  foreign  body  had  stuck  in  the 
gullet,  he  recommended  that  the  neck  of  the  patient 
should  be  touched  by  the  surgeon,  who  was  at  the 
same  time  to  exclaim,  "  Get  thee  out  or  descend,  the 
martyr  Blaise,  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  commands 
thee."  One  of  the  strangest  of  his  recommendations, 
which  is  also  repeated  by  Paulus  ^gineta  and  Ama- 
tus  Lusitanus,  is  that  of  coition  for  the  cure  of 
diarrhoea  or  relaxation  of  the  bowels. 

Alexander  Trallian,  so  called  from  Tralles,  a 
city  of  Lydia,  flourished  a  short  time  after  Aetius, 


MEDICINE  IN  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY.       185 

whom  he  mentions  in  his  writings.  This  physician 
was  one  of  the  most  original  writers  of  antiquity, 
and  his  practice,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  super- 
stitious prejudices,  such  as  the  use  of  charms  and 
amulets,  perhaps  the  best  of  any  of  the  older  physi- 
cians. He  not  only  compares  the  observations  and 
principles  of  his  predecessors  with  the  results  of  his 
own  experience,  but  always  judges  for  himself,  and 
does  not  hesitate  to  i-eject  their  theories  and  practice 
when  he  does  not  believe  them  to  be  well  founded. 
His  observations  are  principally  confined  to  the  signs 
of  diseases  and  their  remedies. 

Alexander  seems  to  have  been  impressed  with  a 
correct  idea  regarding  the  mode  of  practising  medi- 
cine with  the  greatest  advantage.  One  rule  which 
he  lays  down  is,  that  we  ought  never  to  determine 
the  plan  to  be  pursued  in  the  treatment  of  any  disease, 
without  having  attentively  studied  the  specific  and 
individual  causes,  and  in  a  thousand  places  he  recom- 
mends us  never  to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  blinded  or 
led  into  error  by  the  spirit  of  system,  but  to  always 
direct  our  attention  to  the  age,  strength,  constitution, 
and  mode  of  life  of  the  patient,  as  well  as  to  the 
season  and  atmospheric  variations,  and  especially  to 
observe  carefully  the  efforts  of  nature  in  acute  dis- 
eases. He  is  apparently  the  first  author  who  men- 
tions rhubarb.  His  practical  precepts  exhibit  the 
most  gross  superstition. 

We  may  next  pass  to  the  commencement  of  the 
seventh  century,  at  which  period  lived  Theophilus, 
who  was  also  called  from  his  sanctity  or  his  talents 
Philotheus  or  Philaretus.     He  was   one  of  the  first 


1 8  6  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

monks  that  wrote  upon  medicine.  He  made  a  compi- 
lation from  Galen  and  Rufus  on  the  structure  of  the 
human  body,  which  seems  to  have  been  dictated  by 
piety,  in  order  to  demonstrate  the  wisdom  of  God  in 
the  organization  of  the  human  frame.  He  also  pub- 
lished two  other  works,  one  on  the  urine  and  the 
other  on  the  pulse,  both  of  which  are  replete  with 
absurdities.  He  and  Stephen  of  Athens,  one  of  his 
scholars,  have  also  left  some  commentaries  on  the 
aphorisms  of  Hippocrates,  which  embrace  only  the 
theoretical  part.  John  of  Alexandria  and  Palladius 
the  latrosophist  probably  also  belong  to  the  seventh 
century,  but  neither  one  nor  the  other  merits  especial 
notice. 

The  last  Greek  author  who  claims  our  particular 
attention  is  Paulus  ^gixeta,  who  flourished  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventh  century.  Paulus  was  a 
distinguished  surgeon  and  accoucheur,  and  received 
his  education  at  Alexandria.  He  was  the  first  phy- 
sician who  seems  to  have  been  famous  for  his  at- 
tention to  female  diseases  and  the  obstetric  art,  and 
is  by  some  considered  to  have  been  the  first  man  that 
merited  the  appellation  of  man  midwife.  In  medi- 
cine Paulus  -(5^gineta  does  not  merit  much  regard, 
but  his  surgical  remarks  are  occasionally  new  and 
interesting.  Like  his  predecessors  Oribasius  and 
Aetius,  he  was  more  a  compiler  than  an  original 
writer. 

After  this  period  the  state  of  medicine  in  Greece 
remained  stationary,  and  no  person  of  eminence  ap- 
peared who  rendered  himself  so  celebrated  as  those 
individuals  of  whose   principles  we   have   already 


MEDICAL   WRITERS  OF  THE  TENTH  CENTURY,     187 

spoken.  There  were  some  few  physicians,  however, 
who  shone  dimly  through  the  obscurity.  I^onus, 
who  lived  near  the  end  of  the  10th  century,  com- 
piled a  work,  frequently  even  literally  from  Aetius, 
Alexander  Trallian,  and  Paulus,  mixed  up  also  with 
some  original  observations  of  his  own.  In  these  we 
find  the  first  mention  made  of  the  distilled  water 
of  the  rose  as  a  remedy,  which  Le  Clerc,  Friend,  and 
others  erroneously  ascribe  to  Johannes  Actuarius. 
The  first  allusion,  however,  to  rose-water  as  a  per- 
fume is  in  a  work  regarding  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine  YII.,  where,  at  a  feast  given 
in  946,  the  priest  speaks  of  the  rose-water  as  an 
agreeable  scent. 

Several  works  were  composed  about  this  era  on 
the  diseases  of  horses,  &c.,  but  Simon  Seth  was,  in 
chronological  order,  the  next  writer  on  human  dis- 
eases. He  held  the  office  of  keeper  of  the  wardrobe 
in  the  palace  of  Antiochus  at  Constantinople,  and 
wrote  a  ^^ Syntagma  de  Cibarionan  JFacuUate,'^  in  which 
he  chiefly  copied  the  work  of  Psellus,  who  was  his 
contemporary,  l^either  of  the  treatises  is,  however, 
considered  of  any  value.  He  speaks  of  asparagus 
as  having  been  a  long  time  introduced  into  the 
kitchens,  and  as  possessing  considerable  medicinal 
properties.  His  work  also  contains  the  first  de- 
scription of  camphor,  which  he  affirms  to  be  the 
resin  of  an  extremely  large  Indian  tree,  and  he 
speaks  likewise  of  the  musk. 

The  last  but  one  of  these  writers  to  whom  we 
slmll  at  present  allude  was  John,  the  son  of  Zacha- 
riah,  who  was  surnamed  Actuarius,  a  title  accorded 


1 88  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

by  the  court  of  Constantinople  to  a  great  number 
oJP  physicians,  and  which  merely  answered  to  the 
modern  physician  in  ordinary.  All  his  works  are  hi 
a  great  measure  compilations  from  his  predecessors, 
but  they  have  been  highly  extolled  by  some  practical 
authors.  Stephens  considered  one  of  them  worthy  of 
a  place  amongst  the  '-'-Frinciins  Artis  Medicce.'^  They 
contain  some  original  observations  regarding  palpi- 
tation of  the  heart,  in  which  he  would  seem  to  have 
first  recommended  bleeding  and  purging.  He  is 
the  only  Greek  physician  who  speaks  of  the  milder 
purgatives,  as  senna,  manna,  cassia,  and  myrobalans; 
and  these  medicines  were  professedly  borrowed  from 
the  Arabs,  whom  he  calls  barbarians. 

Demetrius  Pepagomenus,  a  contemporary  of  Actu- 
arius,  wrote  a  work  on  the  gout,  by  order  of  the 
Emperor  Michael  YII.  Palaeologus.  This  small 
treatise  has  been  highly  spoken  of,  and  esteemed 
worthy  of  a  better  place  than  the  majority  of  the 
works  of  this  period.  The  author  continues  in  it 
faithful  to  the  system  of  Galen,  but  his  theory  of  the 
disease  is  more  rational  and  conformable  to  the  ob- 
servation of  the  moderns  than  that  of  the  major 
part  of  his  immediate  successors.  He  sets  out  with 
the  principle,  that  the  gout  is  a  disease  of  the  whole 
organism,  produced  by  debility  of  the  digestive  or- 
gans, and  by  errors  in  diet ;  and  on  this  account  so- 
briety and  temperance  are  considered  to  be  the  only 
means  of  prevention,  but,  he  adds,  although  it  is 
easy  to  prescribe  a  suitable  regimen,  patients  are 
rarely  found  so  tractable  as  to  conform  to  it. 

[N'icolas   of    Alexandria,   who    sometimes   styled 


MEDICAL  PROGRESS  IN  THE  EAST.  189 

himself  Myrepsiis,  lived  also  about  this  period ;  but, 
although  he  attained  the  title  of  Actuarius,  he  has 
left  nothing  behind  him  worthy  of  comment. 

By  the  accounts  thus  given  of  the  works  pub- 
lished by  the  modern  Christians  of  the  Empire  of 
the  East,  it  will  have  been  observed  in  what  a  state 
of  decline  were  the  sciences,  especially  that  of  medi- 
cine, under  the  reign  of  the  emperors  of  Constan- 
tinople. Those  princes  themselves  had  afterwards  so 
little  confidence  in  their  physicians,  during  the  four- 
teenth century,  that  Andronicus  III.,  being  affected 
with  a  tumor  of  the  spleen,  sent  for  Arabian  physi- 
cians from  Persia  to  attend  him. 

When  science  decayed  in  the  "West  it  arose  again 
in  the  East.  We  have  already  had  frequent  occa- 
sion to  mention  that  Alexandria  was,  for  a  long 
period,  the  great  medical  school,  at  which  the  most 
eminent  of  the  Greek  physicians  were  educated, 
and  although  its  rich  library  no  longer  existed,  it 
remained  the  centre  of  the  sciences,  the  Arabs  from 
their  vicinity  possessing  considerable  facilities  in 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  At  the  time  of  Mo- 
hammed there  were  at  Mecca  several  physicians  who 
had  been  educated  in  the  Grecian  schools. 

History  particularly  mentions  Kha-reth-Ebn-Kal- 
DAHT  of  Takif  (A.D.  622),  a  contemporary  of  the  pro- 
phet, who  had  studied  also  at  Dschondisabour  in  the 
Chuzistan,  where  a  medical  school  had  been  estab- 
lished, and  who  practised  the  healing  art  in  Persia. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  Theodocus 
and  Theodunus,  two  Greek  physicians,  established 
themselves  in  Irak,  and  had  for  pupils  a  number  of 


1 90  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

Arabs,  who  were  afterwards  distinguished  for  their 
knowledge  of  medicine.  The  principal  works  of  the 
ancient  writers  of  medicine  in  Greece  had  likewise 
been  .translated  into  the  language  of  the  country, 
and  these  translations  formed  the  basis  of  Arabian 
knowledge. 

Until  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century  that  na- 
tion showed  but  little  zeal  for  the  sciences;  but, 
when  the  Caliph  Almanzor  had  founded  the  city  of 
Bagdad,  it  became  the  seat  of  a  school  more  eminent 
than  almost  any  of  the  other  academies  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan states.  A  college  of  medicine  was  there 
established,  the  directors  of  which  were  charged 
with  the  examination  of  those  who  were  destined 
to  exercise  the  healing  art.  From  all  countries  of 
the  world  there  were  so  many  professors  and  pupils 
included  in  this  city,  that  at  one  time  they  were  esti- 
mated at  six  thousand.  There  also  the  Caliphs  es- 
tablished the  first  hospitals  and  the  first  public 
pharmacies,  to  assist  the  progress  of  medicine.  In 
the  thirteenth  century  the  Caliph  Mostanser  re-es- 
tablished the  academy  and  medical  school  there; 
the  number  of  Jewish  schools  between  the  time  of 
their  foundation  and  that  century  having  almost 
wholly  annihilated  those  of  the  Arabs.  Mostanser 
gave  salaries  to  the  professors,  collected  a  large 
library,  and  established  a  new  school  of  pharmacy. 

Of  all  the  princes,  the  most  renowned  was  Alma- 
moun,  who  has  made  his  name  important  by  the 
services  which  he  rendered  to  science.  It  is,  pro- 
perly speaking,  in  his  reign,  or  about  the  year  812, 
that  we  should  date  the  introduction  of  Greek  lite- 


SPANISH  MEDICAL  SCHOOLS  AND  LIBRARIES.     19 1 

rature  into  the  Arabian  schools.  Until  that  period 
there  were  but  few  translations,  but  the  Caliph  had 
fresh  ones  made.  Almamoun  purchased  far  and  wide 
the  works  of  the  ancients,  and  recommended  this 
particularly  to  the  care  of  the  ambassadors  of  the 
Greek  princes.  He  made  to  Leo  the  most  advan- 
tageous offers  to  induce  him  to  be  near  his  person, 
but  the  philosopher  refused  the  invitation. 

Under  the  successors  of  Almamoun  science  was 
powerfully  encouraged,  and  academies  were  formed 
in  different  states  which  were  under  the  dominion 
of  the  Arabs.  Spain,  however,  was  the  most 
happy  of  the  Mohammedan  states.  The  three  Ab- 
dalrahmans  and  Alhakem,  from  the  eighth  to  the 
tenth  century,  are  celebrated  for  having  raised  to 
the  highest  point  of  splendor  the  countries  subjected 
to  the  caliphate  of  Cordova.  They  protected  science, 
and  governed  with  so  much  mildness  that,  accord- 
ing to  some  historians,  Spain  could  not  boast  of 
having  been  so  happy  under  the  reign  of  the  Chris- 
tian princes. 

Alhakem  established  at  Cordova  an  academy, 
which,  for  several  centuries,  was  the  most  celebrated 
in  the  whole  world.  Already  in  the  tenth  century  it 
had  a  library  containing  224,000  volumes.  Seville, 
Toledo,  and  Saragossa,  Murcia  and  Coimbra  had 
also  schools,  which  preserved  considerable  reputation 
until  the  end  of  the  domination  of  the  Arabs,  but 
none  of  them  attained  the  celebrity  of  Cordova. 
Whilst  their  dominion  continued  in  Spain  medical 
instruction  continued  to  make  progress,  so  that 
in  the   twelfth  century  there  were  seventy  public 


192  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

libraries  in  that  part  of  Spain  which  was  subject  to 
the  Moors,  whilst  Cordova  had  produced  150  medical 
authors,  Almenik  52,  and  Murcia  62. 

The  consequence  of  the  encouragement  given  to 
science  was  the  publication  of  several  works  on 
medicine,  the  principal  of  the  authors  of  which  may 
be  noticed  in  chronological  order,  premising,  how- 
ever, that  anatomy  was  rigorously  forbidden  by 
several  dogmas  of  their  religion  ;  dogmas  so  influen- 
tial that  we  are  told  by  Toderini,  that  when  he 
asked  a  Mufti  if  the  dissection  of  human  bodies  were 
permitted,  he  received  for  answer  that  his  question 
alone  was  a  contravention  of  the  law.  Their  ana- 
tomy was  consequently  wholl}^  derived  from  the 
writings  of  the  Glreeks,  especially  from  those  of 
Galen.  They  studied  it,  however,  also  on  human 
bones,  when  they  were  able  to  obtain  them  from 
the  cemeteries.  Abdollatif,  a  celebrated  Arabian 
physician  of  this  period,  relates  that  having  on  one 
occasion  examined  some  bones  obtained  from  a 
burying-ground,  he  observed  that  the  lower  jaw  is 
composed  of  but  one  bone,  and  that  the  os  sacrum 
is  sometimes  formed  of  several,  but  more  frequently 
of  only  one.  These  remarks  he  made  for  the  pur- 
pose of  refuting  Galen,  who  asserted  that  those 
bones  were  not  simple  but  composed  of  several 
pieces. 

Chemistry  and  pharmacy  are  the  branches  of 
medical  science  most  indebted  to  the  labors  of  the 
Arabs  ;  and  several  of  the  modern  names  are  derived 
from  them,  such  as  alcohol,  jalap,  syrup,  looch, 
naphtha,  camphor,  bezoar,  and  a  number  of  others 


PRACTICE  OF  THE  ARABIAN  PHYSICIANS.       193 

and  in  the  eighth  century  Geber  of  Mesopotamia 
had  prepared  corrosive  sublimate,  red  precipitate, 
nitric  acid,  nitro-muriatic  acid,  lapis  infernalis,  &c. 

It  would  seem  that  formulae  or  recipes  for  the 
preparation  of  medicines  sanctioned  by  the  govern- 
ment were  composed  by  Sabor-Ebn-Sahel,  the  di- 
rector of  the  school  of  Dschondisabour,  and  published 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  ninth  century,  under  the 
title  of  Krabadin,  which  would  seem  to  be  the  first 
information  we  possess  respecting  the  publication 
of  a  dispensatory,  or  pharmacopoeia.  The  dispensa- 
tories which  were  subsequently  jDublished  were 
under  the  immediate  surveillance  of  government,  who 
directed  a  particular  attention  that  the  medicines 
should  not  be  adulterated  or  sold  at  too  hisrh  a 
price. 

With  respect  to  the  mode  of  practice  pursued  by 
the  Arabian  physicians,  it  was  most  gross  and  super- 
stitious. The  event  and  even  the  previous  history 
of  the  disease  as  well  as  of  the  individual  were  pre- 
tended to  be  discovered  by  the  inspection  of  the 
urine,  or  the  aspect  of  the  stars.  Observation  was 
neglected  in  proportion  as  they  delivered  themselves 
up  to  the  foolish  minutiae  of  theory  and  the  subtleties 
of  the  dialectic  philosophy,  of  which  they  were  con- 
siderably enamored.  Fabulous  histories  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  and  from  writing  to  writing,  with- 
out any  pains  being  taken  to  investigate  their  accu- 
racy. Surgery  made  but  little  progress  amongst  the 
Arabians,  owing  to  natural  prejudices  and  misplaced 
modesty, — men  never  being  permitted,  under  any 
circumstances,  to  expose  the  parts  of  generation  of 
13 


1 9  4  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

the  female,  on  whom  lithotomy,  the  reduction  of  a 
prolapsed  womb,  &c.,  were  practised  by  women. 

A  priest  of  Alexandria  named  Aaron  Ahran 
published  the  oldest  work  which  the  Arabs  possessed. 
Aaron  was  a  contemporary  of  Paulus  ^gineta,  who, 
it  will  be  remembered,  lived  about  the  year  630  of 
the  Christian  era.  His  work  was  entitled  Pandects 
of  Medicine.^  and  consisted  of  thirty  books ;  they 
were  published  in  Greek,  but  were  afterwards  trans- 
lated by  a  Jew  of  Bassora.  They  are  not  in  exist- 
ence at  the  present  day,  but  we  possess  some  fragments 
of  them  in  the  works  of  Rhazes.  Aaron  was  the  first 
writer  who  drew  particular  attention  to  the  small- 
pox, of  which  he  gave  the  first  description,  Paulus 
^gineta,  his  contemporary,  not  having  noticed  the 
subject. 

The  next  writer  to  Aaron  on  medicine  was  Jahiah- 
Ebn-Masawaih,  or  Mesue  as  he  is  usually  called.  He 
was  a  pensioner  at  the  court  of  Haroun-al-Easchid, 
and  taught  medicine  to  the  Arabs.  Of  all  his  wri- 
tings we  possess  a  few  specimens  only  in  the  works 
of  Rhazes.  He  lived  about  the  year  845  of  the  Chris- 
tian era.  His  scholar  Hhonain  became  still  more 
celebrated  than  his  master  amongst  the  Arabs  for 
his  translation  of  Greek  works.  His  history  fur- 
nishes the  first  account  of  academical  degrees  con- 
ferred by  learned  societies.  He  translated  into  Ara- 
bic not  only  Hip^DOcrates  and  Galen,  but  also  Pliny, 
Alexander  of  Aphrodisea,  Ptolemy,  and  Paulus 
^gineta.  His  sons,  Izhac-Ebn-Hhonain,  and  David- 
Ebn-Hhonian,  are  also  known  as  translators.  He 
first  left  an  Arabic  translation  of  the  work  of  Aris- 


R HAZES  AND  HIS  WORKS.  195 

totle  on  plants,  and  was  a  celebrated  philosophical 
physician.  David  wrote  some  observations  on  medi- 
cal subjects,  the  manuscript  of  which  has  remained 
undated.  Isaac  has  been  quoted  by  several  later 
writers  on  medicine,  but  his  observations  are  of 
little  moment. 

Jahiah-Ebn-Serapion,  commonly  called  Serapion 
THE  ELDER,  livcd  at  the  commencement  of  the  ninth 
century.  His  works  are  principally  compilations, 
and  those,  according  to  Hali-Ben- Abbas,  not  of  the 
most  accurate  kind.  Serapion  first  described  a  spe- 
cies of  eruptive  disorder,  which  he.  called  echra; 
this  was  subsequently  corrupted  to  essera,  and  de- 
notes a  species  of  chronic  nettle-rash,  which  was 
common  in  Arabia. 

The  great  luminary  of  this  period  was  Moham- 
med-EbuHSecharjah-Abou-Bekr-Arrasi,  who  is  com- 
monly known  in  medical  literature  by  the  name  of 
Rhazes.  He  published  twelve  works  on  chemistry 
and  on  medicine.  He  is  said  to  have  lost  his  sight 
at  a  very  advanced  age;  and  it  is  asserted  that  he 
would  not  sufter  himself  to  be  operated  on  for  the 
cataract,  because  the  surgeon  who  was  to  perform 
the  operation  was  unable  to  tell  him  in  what  man- 
ner the  eye  was  covered  by  its  membranes.  He  died 
in  the  year  923. 

The  two  great  works  of  Rhazes  are  the  Continent^ 
and  the  ten  books  denominated  Almanzor^  addressed 
to  Mansor,  king  of  the  Corassini.  It  has  been  as- 
serted by  some  authors  that  the  latter  work  was  not 
the  production  of  Rhazes,  but  there  seems  to  be 
every  reason  for  believing  from  the  superior  testi- 


196  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

mony  of  others  that  it  was.  What  have  most  con- 
tributed to  establish  the  reputation  of  Ehazes  are 
his  treatises  on  the  smallpox  and  measles,  the  most 
valuable  of  the  works  of  the  older  writers  which 
we  possess  on  those  two  diseases,  and  the  first  de- 
scription of  the  latter  of  them,  the  measles.  Amongst 
the  list  of  new  remedies  used  by  Rhazes,  we  find 
orpiment,  a  sulphuret  of  arsenic,  the  sulphates  of 
copper  and  iron,  borax,  &c.  &c.,  all  of  which  are 
extensively  used  in  medicine  at  the  present  day. 

A  short  time  after  this  celebrated  Arab,  whose 
life  and  medical  productions  formed  prominent 
features  of  the  tenth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
lived  Ali  Abbas  (A.D.  994),  or  Ali  the  son  of  Abbas, 
who  was  surnamed  the  magician,  and  published  a 
work  entitled  '•'' Almaleki ;  or.,  the  v:hoIe  Book  of  Medi- 
ci7ie.''  The  only  one  of  his  productions  particularly 
worthy  of  comment  is  his  practical  directions  re- 
garding diet,  which,  for  the  time  in  which  he  lived, 
is  very  creditable.  In  the  general  views  and  treat- 
ment of  disease  he  differs  but  very  little  from  Rhazes 
and  his  other  predecessors. 

This  century  produced  also  Al-Hussain-Abou-Ali- 
Ben-Abdallah-Ebn-Sina,  surnamed  Scheikh-Reyes  or 
prince  of  physicians,  than  whom  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  find  any  one  after  Aristotle  and  Galen  who 
reigned  for  a  longer  period  and  more  despotically 
over  the  empire  of  the  sciences.  He  is  commonly 
known  under  the  name  of  Avicenna  (A.D.  978- 
1036).  He  was  born  at  Bokhara  in  Chorassan,  and 
was  the  last  of  the  Arabian  authors  on  medicine,  his 
successors  being  born  in  Spain,  where  the  Saracens 


AVICENNA  AND  A  LB  UC AS  IS.  197 

were  then  having  sway ;  but  little  communication 
seeming  to  have  been  held  between  the  Eastern  and 
Western  empires. 

Although  the  doctrines  of  Avicenna  were  almost 
implicitly  followed  for  nearly  six  hundred  3^ears,  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  had  any  pretensions  to  an 
extraordinary  genius,  but  was  unquestionably  en- 
dowed with  a  strong  mind.  From  the  multitude 
of  materials  furnished  by  his  predecessors  it  was  not 
diificult  to  compose  the  immense  work  to  which  he 
gave  the  title  of  Canon,  ^Notwithstanding  the  ex- 
tensive influence  which  Avicenna  possessed,  his 
Canon  forming  the  syllabus  or  foundation  of  the 
lectures  in  every  university,  he  was  a  mere  compiler, 
his  works  being  chiefly  collected  from  those  of  his 
predecessors  both  of  Grreece  and  Arabia. 

In  the  twelfth  century  lived  a  celebrated  Spanish 
physician,  or,  more  particularly,  surgeon,  called  Kha- 
laf-Ebn- Abbas- Abu'l-Kasem,  born  at  Zahera  near 
Cordova,  and  more  known  under  the  names  of  Al- 
BUCASis,  Abulcasis,  or  Alzaharavius,  especially  the 
flrst.  He  is  said  to  have  died  about  the  year  1122. 
Albucasis  wrote  a  celebrated  work  on  the  operations 
of  surgery,  which  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  relics 
of  the  age.  In  this  he  first  describes  the  mode  of 
removing  stones  from  the  bladder  of  the  female,  but 
this  operation  was  only  to  be  performed  by  mid- 
wives,  the  surgeon,  as  we  have  before  had  occasion 
to  observe,  not  being  permitted  to  oftend  the  mo- 
desty of  the  sex. 

Amongst  all  the  Arabian  physicians,  however, 
there  is  no  one  who  is  entitled  to  the  merit  of  so  much 


1 9  8  HIS  TOR  I  ^  OF  MEDICINE. 

originality  or  of  correct  observation  as  Abdel-Malek- 
Abou-Merwan-Ebn-Zohr,  more  known  under  the 
name  of  Ayexzoar,  a  native  of  Seville  in  Andalusia, 
and  who  flourished  about  the  year  1169  of  the  Chris- 
tian era.  Avenzoar  would  seem  to  have  first  de- 
scribed the  inflammation  of  the  mediastinum  and 
of  the  pericardium,  as  well  as  dropsy  and  emp^^ema 
of  the  latter. 

AvEREHOES  was  also  a  Spaniard  who  flourished 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century;  but  he  was  more 
distinguished  for  his  philosophical  than  his  medical 
works.     He  died  about  the  year  1206. 

The  last  Arabian  of  whom  mention  may  be  made 
was  Ebx-Beithas,  a  celebrated  botanist  and  physi- 
cian, who  was  born  at  Malaga,  and  published  some 
works  on  the  materia  medica  and  veterinary  medi- 
cine. He  was  their  last  remarkable  writer ;  and  with 
him  terminates  the  history  of  the  medicine  of  that 
nation. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  empire  they  lost  their 
taste  for  science  much  sooner  than  in  Spain  and  the 
empire  of  Morocco;  the  Turks  having  in  the  eleventh 
century  destro^^ed  the  greater  part  of  the  caliphates 
of  Asia,  and  substituted  their  despotic  government. 
Science  could  not  flourish  under  the  reign  of  indi- 
viduals wdiose  national  education  had  for  its  sole 
object  that  of  making  warriors.  In  Spain,  science 
was  not  encouraged  longer  than  the  thirteenth 
century  ;  the  physicians  of  that  era  not  being  deserv- 
ing of  mention.  The  conquests  of  the  Christian 
Spaniards  more  and  more  constricted  the  territory 
of  the  Moors,  and  compelled  th'em  to  neglect  every- 


MEDICAL  PROGRESS  OF  THE  SARACENS.       199 

thii.ig'  to  defend  themselves  against  the  common 
enemy,  until  at  last  Ferdinand  totally  expelled  them 
from  Spain  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

If  we  cast  a  rapid  glance  over  the  exertions  of  the 
Saracens  for  the  advancement  of  the  healing  art,  we 
shall  find  that  they  confined  themselves  to  keeping 
the  knowledge  which  had  been  transmitted  to  them 
by  the  Greeks,  and  that  a  small  number  of  discover- 
ies in  materia  medica  or  isolated  observations  were 
the  only  advancements  which  they  made  in  the 
science.  Anatomy,  particulary,  continued  in  the 
same  state  in  which  the  Greeks  had  left  it.  The 
theory  of  medicine  was  filled  by  them  with  numerous 
subtleties,  but  no  important  acquisition  was  gained. 
As  for  surgery,  they  had  no  learned  author  on  the 
subject  except  Albucasis.  Chemistry  and  materia 
medica,  in  short,  were  the  only  two  branches  of 
medicine  which  were  much  improved  by  them. 
AYhilst  medical  instruction  flourished  in  the  coun- 
tries subjected  to  the  Moorish  princes,  and  especially 
in  Spain,  ignorance  ]30ssessed  the  Christian  states  of 
the  West. 


CHAPTER  XYIT. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE    AMOXG  THE  MOXKS    OF    THE    MIDDLE 
AGES. 

Monk  Physicians  of  the  West — Cures  by  prayer,  relics,  &c. — 
English  ecclesiastical  physicians — Medical  schools  established 
by  them  in  England  and  France — Schools  of  the  cathedrals — 
Physicians  first  so  called — Curious  laws  affecting  physicians — 
Practice  of  medicine  restricted  to  the  lower  clergy — Eminent 
medical  ecclesiastics  of  the  day — Medical  celibacy — Practice  of 
medicine  by  the  nuns — The  Abbess  Hildegarde — Laws  in 
regard  to  pregnant  women — Constantine  the  African — In- 
fluence of  the  Crusaders — Celebrated  schools  of  Monte-Cassino 
and  Salernum — Dietetical  precepts  of  the  latter — Chief  physi- 
cians of  this  school — Degrees  of  bachelor,  licentiate,  &c.  first 
granted  to  physicians  in  France — Doctors  first  so  called. 

After  the  sixth  century,  the  monks  of  the  West 
almost  exclusively  exercised  medicine  as  a  work  of 
piety  and  of  charity,  and  as  a  duty  attached  to  their 
divine  calling.  Retarded,  however,  by  ignorance  and 
prejudice,  and  by  the  aversion  they  entertained  for 
reflection,  or  for  profane  acquirements,  they  neglected 
the  study  of  the  science,  never  investigating  the 
causes  which  produce  the  phenomena  of  nature  nor 
employing  even  ordinary  remedies,  but  having 
recourse  merely  to  prayers,  relics  of  martyrs,  holy 
water,  and  other  ceremonials  of  the  Romish  church. 
They  were  consequently  unworthy  of  the  name  of 
physicians ;  and,   as   Sprengel  has  observed,   ought 


MONK  PHYSICIANS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.     201 

rather  to  be  esteemed  pious  and  fanatical  nurses.  It 
would  be  impossible  fully  to  describe  all  the  cures 
which  the  monks  performed  or  are  said  to  have 
performed  in  the  middle  ages  on  the  graves  of  the 
martyrs,  or  by  the  aid  of  their  relics. 

The  cures  performed  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Ida,  the 
wife  of  Egbert,  in  the  ninth  century,  at  that  of  St. 
Martin  of  Tours,  and  of  John,  Bishop  of  Hagustald ; 
the  infallible  aid  aftbrded  by  the  ashes  of  St.  Deus- 
dedit  at  Benevento  in  all  species  of  intermittents; 
the  cures  of  Pope  Stephen  III.  of  the  convent  of  St. 
Denys,  produced  by  the  intercession  of  the  apostles 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul ;  of  several  emperors,  amongst 
others  of  Otho  the  Great,  by  St.  Guy,  &c.,  are  only  a 
small  number  of  examples  amongst  those  which 
might  be  cited  to  prove  the  gross  superstition  and 
fanaticism  of  these  dark  ages. 

During  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  however, 
there  were  among  the  monks  of  the  West  a  few 
traditionary  remains  of  the  science  which  had  origi- 
nated in  the  East.  Some  missionaries  sent  into 
England  by  Pope  Gregory  I.  founded  schools  there 
in  which  medicine  was  taught,  and  whence  Germany 
several  times  obtained  professors.  About  this  jDcriod 
there  were  some  English  ecclesiastics  distinguished 
for  their  extensive  acquirements,  especially  Theodore, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (A.D.  671),  and  to  Colomb 
and  Erigenes.  According  to  Bede,  that  prelate 
himself  gave  practical  instructions  to  the  monks 
who  exercised  medicine,  for  it  is  related,  amongst 
other  things,  that  he  forbade  bleeding  during  the 


HIST  OR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 


fii^t  quarter  of  the  moon.  Tobias,  Bishop  of  Rosa, 
also  practised  the  healing  art. 

The  schools  established  by  these  ecclesiastics  were 
much  frequented  by  strangers,  and  thus  the  English, 
principally  during  the  reign  of  Charlemagne,  first  lit 
the  sparks  of  science  in  France  and  Germany.  The 
remarkable  zeal  with  which  Charlemagne  endeavored 
to  encourage  learning  amongst  the  nations  under  his 
governnlent  is  well  known.  He  was  seconded  in 
this  noble  undertaking  by  an  English  savant  named 
Alenin,  who  taught  philosoph}^,  dialectics,  astronomy , 
and  arithmetic  to  the  emperor  himself,  and  who  in 
concert  with  Theodulf, Bishop  of  Orleans,  established 
schools  in  the  cathedrals  and  monasteries.  A  learned 
society  was  formed  at  the  court  of  Charlemagne, 
almost  wholly  composed  of  English,  in  which  were 
discussed  the  various  subjects  of  human  knowledge, 
and  it  was  possessed  of  a  library  presented  by  the 
emperor.  The  members  of  this  academy  also,  it 
would  appear,  occupied  themselves  with  medicine. 

Amongst  the  schools  established  by  order  of 
Charlemagne,  those  of  Lyons,  Metz,  Falda,  Hirschau, 
Reichman,  and  Osnaburg  were  the  most  celebrated. 
At  these  schools  were  taught  grammar,  music,  dia- 
lectics, rhetoric,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  These 
were  the  mily  branches  which  they  particularly 
studied;  but  the  emperor  in  the  year  805  issued  an 
ordinance  for  addins;  medicine  to  the  other  sciences 
taught  in  the  schools  of  the  convent,  although  he 
himself  held  physicians  and  their  advice  in  but 
little  estimation. 

After  that  period  the  healing  art  was  taught  in 


CURIOUS  CODE  AFFECTING  PHYSICIANS.       203 

several  schools  of  the  cathedrals  under  the  name  of 
physic,  and  it  would  seem  to  be  at  this  time  that 
the  name  of  physician  was  first  applied  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  healing  art.  The  physicians,  however, 
do  not  seem  to  have  been  deserving  of  more  consi- 
deration than  was  accorded  them  in  the  barbarous 
times  in  which  they  lived,  and  we  may  judge  how 
little  that  was  by  the  laws  promulgated  by  Theo- 
doric,  king  of  the  Visigoths,  which  were  followed 
until  the  eleventh  century  in  a  great  part  of  the 
West.  "1^0  physician,"  it  is  said  in  that  code, 
"shall  bleed  a  noble  woman  or  girl  without  a  rela- 
tion or  domestic  being  present  at  the  operation,  and 
in  case  of  contravention  of  this  law  he  shall  pay  a 
fine  of  five  pence, '  qida  diffidllimum  non  est^  ut  in  tali 
occasione  ludibriiun  interdiim  adhcerescat^  "When  a 
physician  is  called  upon  to  attend  a  patient  or  to 
dress  a  wound,  he  must,  immediately  after  having 
seen  him,  give  surety,  and  agree  upon  the  price  to 
be  paid  upon  his  cure ;  but  he  shall  not  demand 
anything  should  the  patient  die.  For  the  cure  of 
the  cataract  he  shall  receive  -Q.ve  sous.  If  a  physi- 
cian shall  wound  a  man  of  noble  birth,  he  shall  pay 
a  fine  of  one  hundred  sous,  and  if  the  gentleman 
shall  die  of  the  eftects  of  the  operation,  the  physi- 
cian shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  relations  of  the  de- 
ceased, who  may  treat  him  as  to  them  seemeth  meet ; 
but  if  it  be  a  serf  whom  he  has  wounded  or  caused 
the  death  of,  he  shall  be  made  to  restore  another  to 
the  lord.  When  a  physician  takes  a  pupil,  the  latter 
shall  pay  him  twelve  pence  for  his  apprenticeship, 
&c."  {Lindeiihrog^  Cod.  Leg.  Aiitiq.  Wisigoth.  in  Spren- 
gel  Arzneigesch.) 


204  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MED  ICINE. 

The  contempt  in  which  the  ecclesiastical  ph^^si- 
cians  were  held  was  necessarily  obnoxious  to  the 
church,  and  this  was  the  principal  reason  why,  in 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  various  councils 
expressly  forbade  the  members  of  the  superior  clergy, 
such  as  the  archdeacons  and  the  prelates,  to  practise 
medicine,  and  declared  those  excommunicated  who 
would  not  conform  to  the  order.  The  lower  clergy, 
however,  as  the  deans,  subdeans,  and  monks,  still 
preserved  the  right  of  practising  medicine  and  of 
studying  mundane  sciences;  but  they  were  inter- 
dicted from  performing  any  surgical  operation,  and 
especialh^  from  the  use  of  the  actual  cautery  and  of 
cutting  instruments. 

These  steps  were  taken  first  of  all  in  the  synod  of 
Eheims  in  1131,  and  they  were  afterwards  confirmed 
ixL  the  councils  of  Montpellier  in  1162,  of  Tours  in 
1163,  of  Paris  in  1212,  and  at  Lateran  in  1139  and 
1215.  The  same  law  was  also  renewed  in  more 
severe  terms  in  the  j^ears  1220,  1247,  and  1298. 
From  this  frequent  repetition  of  the  same  ordi- 
nance it  is  evident  that  it  was  frequently  violated, 
and  that  the  ecclesiastics  had  much  trouble  in  de- 
taching themselves  from  the  practice  of  medicine. 

Independently  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  school  of 
Salernum,  now  Salerno,  in  Italy,  which  was  a  cele- 
brated school  of  medicine  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries,  the  most  eminent  practitioners  of  the 
healing  art  were  Thieddeg,  an  ecclesiastic  of  Prague, 
who  had  studied  medicine  at  Corbe^^,  and  flourished 
in  1017.  He  was  physician  to  Boleslas,  king  of  Bo- 
hemia.    Hugues,  Abbe  of  Saint  Denis,  who  was,  in 


MONK  PRACTITIONERS  OF  ''LEACH  CRAFTED      205 

the  same  century,  physician  to  the  king  of  France ; 
Didon,  Abbe  of  Sens;  Sigould,  Abbe  of  Epernly ; 
Jean  de  Ravenne,  Abbe  of  Dijon;  Milon,  Arch- 
bishop of  Benevento ;  Dominico,  Abbe  of  Pescara ; 
and  Campo,  monk  of  the  convent  of  Farfa  in  Italy, 
and  other  ecclesiastics  were  distinguished  for  their 
reputed  cures  from  the  ninth  to  the  eleventh  century. 
In  England,  however,  the  fashion  with  the  clergy 
of  studying  and  practising  the  medical  art  prevailed 
a  long  while  after  the  latter  century.  The  prior 
and  convent  of  St.  Swithins  at  Winchester  granted 
to  Thomas  of  Shaftesbury,  clerk,  a  corody,  consist- 
ing of  two  dishes  daily  from  the  prior's  kitchen, 
bread,  drink,  robes,  and  a  competent  chamber  in 
the  monastery  for  the  t^-m  of  his  life;  in  conside- 
ration of  which  the  said  Thomas  paid  them  fifty 
marks,  and  was  moreover  obliged  to  attend  upon 
them  medically — "  deservire  nobis  in  arte  medi- 
cinae."  In  the  romance  of  "Sir  Guy,"  which  ap- 
peared about  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  a 
monk  heals  the  wound  of  the  knight : — 

"  There  was  a  monke  beheld  him  well, 
That  could  of  leach  crafte  some  dell." 

So  late  as  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
John  Arundale,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Coichester, 
was  captain  and  first  physician  to  Henry  YI.  King 
John,  whilst  sick  at  I^CAvark,  made  use  of  "William 
de  Wodestoke,  Abbot  of  the  neighboring  monastery 
of  Croxton,  as  his  physician  ;  and  many  other  exam- 
ples might  be  added.  Even  in  1452  the  physicians 
of  the  University  of  Paris  were  not  allowed  to 
marry,  and  in  the   same  school,  anciently,  at  the 


2  o  6  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

admission  of  the  degree  of  doctor  in  physic,  the 
graduate  took  an  oath  that  he  was  not  married. 

The  nuns  likewise  attended  to  medicine  as  an  act 
of  piety  and  charity.  So  late  as  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury Abelard  permitted  those  of  the  convent  of 
Paraclet  to  practise  surgery.  The  most  celebrated 
of  those  learned  nuns  was  Hildegarde  (A.D.  1098- 
1180),  Abbess  of  the  convent  of  Rupertsberg,  near 
Bino;en,  whose  revelations  and  miracles  caused  her 
to  be  placed  in  the  number  of  the  saints.  Her  cor- 
respondence, which  is  still  in  existence,  instructs  us 
that  the  higher  clergy  at  that  time  consulted  her 
on  all  occasions.  She  has  left  behind  her  a  sort  of 
materia  medica,  which  certainly  was  not  obtained 
from  the  writings  of  phy^cians  who  had  preceded 
her,  and  comprises  a  variety  of  superstitious  reme- 
dies. Thus,  it  advises  the  common  fern  in  all  kinds 
of  witchcraft,  the  herring  in  the  itch,  the  ashes  of 
flies  in  all  affections  of  the  skin,  the  seed  of  the 
zedoary  in  salivation  and  in  pain  of  the  head,  and 
water  mint  in  the  asthma,  &c. 

A  law  which  existed  in  the  decisions  of  several 
councils  exhibits  the  care  taken  .by  the  church  for 
the  preservation  of  the  life  of  its  proselytes.  This 
law  might  have  favored  the  study  of  anatomy,  had 
not  prejudices  opposed  insurmountable  obstacles  to 
those  desirous  of  undertaking  it.  It  directed  that 
the  bodies  of  those  women  who  died  during  preg- 
nancy or  in  their  accouchement  should  be  opened,  in 
order  that  the  infant  might  be  saved.  "  MoriucB 
mulieres  in  jmrtu  scindcmtur,  si  infans  vivere  credatur  ; 


THE  SCHOOL   OF  SALERNUM.  207 

tamen^  si  bene  constitent  de  morte  ij^sancm.'^  It  was  a 
revival  of  the  edict  published  by  IN'uma  Pompilius. 

Medicine  assumed  a  more  imposing  attitude  when 
the  Benedictine  monks  turned  a  more  particular  at- 
tention to  it  in  the  kingdom  of  I^aples  and  established 
two  celebrated  schools — the  one  at  Monte-Cassino, 
the  other  at  Salernum.  The  former  of  these  as  early 
as  the  eleventh  century  enjoyed  so  much  celebrity 
that  the  Emperor  Henry  II.  went  from  Bavaria  to 
the  convent  to  be  cured  of  the  stone.  During  the 
eleventh  century  it  also  became  much  more  cele- 
brated by  the  stay  there  of  Constantine  the  African. 
This  individual  w^as  born  in  Africa,  but  desirous  of 
information  he  visited  the  Arabian  schools  of  Bag- 
dad, travelled  into  India  and  Egypt,  and  passed 
thirty-nine  years  in  journeying  over  remote  regions. 
On  his  return  to  his  own  country  he  was  regarded 
as  a  sorcerer,  and  ran  the  danger  of  losing  his  life. 
He  took  refuge  at  Salernum,  and  became  secretary 
to  Robert  Guischard,  Duke  of  Apulia;  but  becoming 
soon  tired  of  the  bustle  of  court,  he  retired  into  the 
convent  of  Monte-Cassino,  where  he  devoted  the  last 
years  of  his  life  to  translating  the  works  of  the 
Arabs.  These  translations,  we  are  told,  were  by  no 
means  faithful,  and  were  written  in  a  barbarous 
style.  His  works  have  been  passed  off  as  original, 
but  they  are  scarcely  anything  more  than  extracts 
from  books  written  by  the  Saracens.  He  died  in 
1087. 

The  Benedictines  established  convents  at  an  early 
period  in  the  states  of  ]^aples.  The  school  of 
Salernum,  amongst  others,  was  already  celebrated 


2o8  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

in  the  eighth  centiuy,  as  regarded  the  healing  art. 
It  was  beautifully  situated  in  a  locality  extremely 
favorable  to  health.  The  first  pilgrimages  made  by 
the  sick  for  medical  aid  to  Saleruum  are  asserted  to 
bear  date  about  the  3'ear  984,  a  period  at  which 
Adalberon,  Archbishop  of  Yerona,  undertook  a 
journey  to  that  city,  but  did  not  reap  from  it  all 
the  advantages  he  had  anticipated.  At  that  period 
they  endeavored  to  cure  the  sick  by  prayer  only ;  but 
towards  the  eleventh  century  the  monks  of  Salernum 
began  to  unite  some  scientific  acquirements  to  these 
superstitious  modes  of  treatment.  The}^  studied  the 
works  of  the  Greek  and  Arabian  physicians  in 
translations,  and  thus  advantageously  distinguished 
themselves  from  all  their  contemporaries. 

The  Crusaders,  however,  acquired  Salernum  the 
reputation  of  being  the  first  medical  school  of  the 
West.  It  was  conveniently  situated  for  them,  and 
the  beauty  of  the  sky  also  attracted  strangers  thither 
from  all  parts.  But  it  was  not  the  Crusaders  who 
carried  thither  the  knowledge  they  had  acquired  in 
the  East,  as  has  been  believed  by  some.  These  en- 
terprising individuals  were  too  ignorant  and  super- 
stitious to  profit  by  what  was  going  on  in  the  scien- 
tific schools  of  the  Arabians.  In  proof  of  their 
superstition  it  is  known  that  the  whole  army  com- 
manded by  the  Emperor  Otho  suddenly  dispersed 
on  the  appearance  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun.  This 
phenomenon,  which  was  considered  as  a  miracle, 
occasioned  terror  in  every  mind ;  it  was  believed  to 
be  the  precursor  of  the  end  of  the  world,  which,  at 
this  period,  was  imagined  to  be  close  at  hand.    Every 


CURES  BY  THE  ROYAL    TOUCH.  209 

sign  observed  in  the  heavens,  every  meteor,  occasioned 
the  most  ridiculous  fears.  The  physicians  even  bor- 
rowed only  from  the  Arabians  their  marvellous  no- 
tions on  astrology,  uniting  it  still  more  intimately 
with  medical  science. 

It  was  by  this  mixture  of  astrology  and  all  the 
reveries  of  theosophy  with  medicine  that  Edward 
the  Confessor  imagined  he  possessed  the  miraculous 
gift  of  curing  certain  diseases  by  the  simple  touch 
and  by  pronouncing  a  few  sacred  words.  After  the 
example  of  Edward,  the  kings  of  France  became 
celebrated  for  the  skill  with  which,  by  following 
his  process,  they  cured  the  scrofula,  goitre,  &c.,  the 
former  of  which  was  thence  called  the  king's  evil. 
Such  a  method  of  cure  has  been  claimed  to  be  the 
peculiar  attribute  of  the  sovereigns  of  England  and 
France,  but  history  does  not  sanction  this,  for  it 
appears  to  have  been  not  unfrequently  employed  in 
Scandinavia,  and  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
mystical  practices  of  the  Druids  in  curing  disease. 
The  words  used  by  the  French  kings  were  "  he  roi 
te  iouche,  Dieu  te  giterisse.^^ 

In  the  first  year  of  the  twelfth  century,  Robert, 
Prince  of  England,  son  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
disembarked  at  Salernum  for  the  purpose  of  being 
cured  of  a  wound  in  the  arm  which  the  surgeons 
had  treated  badly,  and  it  was  perhaps  on  this  occa- 
sion that  the  physicians  of  Salernum,  at  the  head  of 
whom  is  placed  John  of  Milan  (A.D.  1100),  wrote 
in  Leonine  verse,  at  that  time  much  used,  some  die- 
tetical  precepts,  which  have  reached  us,  and  give  a 
good  idea  of  the  medicine  of  the  age ;  but  they  re- 
14 


2 1  o  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

semble  considerably  the  dietetical  production  of 
Izliali,  to  which  reference  has  ah-eady  been  made. 
One  of  their  dietetical  precepts,  which  will  give  an 
idea  of  their  mode  of  writing,  and  which  it  would 
be  well  to  attend  to  in  this  as  in  every  other  climate 
where  the  autumnal  heat  is  great,  was : — 

"  Autumni  fructus  caveas  ;  ne  sint  tibi  luctus."* 

And  another,  recommending  the  use  of  wines  after 
pork  to  assist  its  digestion: — 

"  Est  caro  porcina  sine  vino  pejor  ovina  : 
Si  tribuis  vina,  tunc  est  cibus  et  medicina."f 

The  chief  physicians  of  the  school  of  Salernum 
were  Gariopuntus,  who  lived  about  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century,  Cophon,  ^N'icolas  Propositus, 
who  lived  in  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century, 
Eomualdus,  and  ^gidius,  Ero^  or  Trotula,  and  Roger. 
During  the  twelfth  century  the  school  of  Salernum, 
through  the  favor  of  the  Emperor  Frederic  11. ,  ac- 
quired a  degree  of  celebrity  which  few  similar  es- 
tablishments in  ancient  times  had  attained.  That 
prince,  who  possessed  extensive  literary  and  scientific 
acquirements,  founded  the  Universities  of  Xaples 
and  Messina,  gave  fixed  salaries  to  the  professors 
attached  to  them,  and  encouraged  that  of  Bologna, 
which  already  existed.  The  kings  of  England,' 
those  of  France,  and  the  popes,  imitating  the  ex- 
ample of  Frederic,  created  some  learned  institutions, 
where  public  teaching  was  encouraged,  and  those 

*  Sir  Alexander  Croke's  Edit,   of  the    "Regimen   Sanitatis 
Salernitanum  ;"  Oxford,  1830,  p.  105,  line  56. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  106,  lines  73,  74. 


CUSTOMS  OF  THE  SCHOOL   OF  SALERNUM.      21 1 

attached  to  them  recompensed.  The  schools  which 
already  existed  at  Paris  and  Montpellier  obtained 
the  title  of  universities,  and  numerous  pupils  flocked 
thither  to  attend  the  medical  classes.  It  was  about 
this  period  that  the  titles  of  bachelor,  licentiate,  and 
master  were  granted  to  the  physician.  Academical 
dignities,  as  already  stated,  were  first  conferred  by 
the  IN'estorians  and  the  Jews  of  the  East,  whence 
the  custom  extended  to  the  Arabs  in  Spain,  and  the 
school  of  Salernum  first  introduced  them  among  the 
Christians  of 'the  West.  The  professors  only,  at  this 
epoch  (the  twelfth  century),  were  denominated  doc- 
tors. This  title,  however,  soon  acquired  the  same 
acceptation  as  master,  and  was  ultimately  substi- 
tuted for  it. 

The  custom  of  the  school  of  Salernum,  which  was 
also  for  a  long  period  that  of  the  institutions  suc- 
cessively established,  was  to  study  anatomy  in  the 
works  of  Galen  or  on  pigs  and  dogs,  animals  which, 
at  this  era,  were  almost  exclusively  dissected. 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  THIRTEENTH  AND 
FOURTEENTH  CENTURIES. 

Medical  progress  in  France  under  St.  Louis — Jean  Pitard — Lan- 
franc  of  Milan — Progress  of  surgery  in  Italy — The  school  of 
Bologna  audits  followers — Encouragement  of  medical  instruc- 
tion in  the  fourteenth  century — First  dissection  of  the  human 
body — Rough  modes  of  dissection — Astrology  and  theosophy 
intermingled  with  medicine — The  Arabists — Decay  of  the 
school  of  Salernum. 

Medical  education  made  remarkable  progress  in 
France  under  Saint  Louis.  It  was  during  the  reign 
of  this  prince  that  the  college  of  surgeons  was  sepa- 
rated from  the  faculty  of  medicine,  through  the 
influence  of  Jean  Pitard,  a  man  of  considerable 
talents,  the  surgeon  and  confidant  of  the  king. 
Surgery  was  regularly  taught  in  this  college,  but 
without  any  particular  splendor  until  the  appearance 
of  an  individual  to  whom  the  art  is  highly  indebted. 
Lanfranc  of  Milan,  medicin  chirurgique,  or  surgical 
physician,  as  the  lay  physicians  who  practised  sur- 
gery were  then  called,  being  compelled  to  leave  his 
own  country,  went  to  Paris  in  1295,  where  he  com- 
menced a  course  of  surgery  which  procured  him  the 
greatest  celebrity. 

This  branch  of  the  healing  art  had  for  several 
years  made  considerable  progress  in  Italy.  Roger 
of  Parma,  who  afterwards  established   himself  at 


MEDICINE  IN  THE  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.     213 

Montpellier,  and  became  the  chancellor  of  that  uni- 
versity, had  first  made  known  in  his  country  the 
operations  of  Albucasis,  and  after  him  his  pupil 
Roland  of  Parma,  professor  at  Bologna,  acquired 
considerable  renown  for  his  improvement  of  surgi- 
cal pathology.  The  most  skilful  of  the  surgeons  of 
this  school,  however,  Guillaume  de  Salicet  of  Pla- 
centia,  a  learned  pathologist  for  his  time,  was  the 
master  of  Lanfranc.  The  latter  surpassed  all  his 
predecessors  in  the  extent  of  his  know^ledge  and  the 
extent  of  his  imagination.  He  published  at  Paris  his 
'-''G-rande  Chirurgie^''  -wYach.  served  as  a  guide  to  that 
school  until  the  more  modern  works  of  Guy  de  Chau- 
liac,  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  were  sub- 
stituted for  them.  Medical  instruction  now  became 
successively  encouraged  in  the  principal  cities  of 
Europe  in  which  universities  were  erected  by  the 
reigning  princes. 

The  history  of  medicine  is  henceforth  chiefly  in- 
terested in  its  progress  in  England,  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy.  The  Moors,  vanquished  by  the 
Christians  in  Spain,  appear  in  proportion  as  they  left 
that  beautiful  country  to  have  delivered  it  up  to 
fresh  darkness.  The  period  at  which  the  Spaniards 
recovered  their  independence,  instead  of  being  the 
occasion  of  increase  of  knowledge,  was  the  precursor 
of  a  state  of  ignorance  of  increasing  magnitude. 
Again  the  Arabians,  overcome  in  the  East,  and  their 
caliphates  destroyed  by  the  Turks,  lost  their  taste 
for  science. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  medical  instruction  ex- 
perienced in  European  countries  a  revolution  of  the 
highest  importance,  and  one  to  wdiich  medical  science 


2 1 4  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

is  indebted  for  its  subsequent  progress.  Until  this 
period  anatomy,  whose  utility  had  been  acknow- 
ledged by  physicians  from  the  most  remote  period, 
was  but  a  speculative  science.  The  prejudices  of 
every  religious  creed  had  interdicted  physicians 
from  the  dissection  of  human  subjects.  After  the 
time  of  Herophilus  and  his  successor  Erasistratus,  if 
some  studious  individuals  attended  to  practical 
anatomy,  they  could  operate  only  on  animals,  and 
of  course  their  information  was  of  a  character  by 
no  means  satisfactory,  owing  to  the  difference  be- 
tween their  structure  and  that  of  man.  The  anato- 
mical courses  of  the  schools  consisted  of  the  nomen- 
clature of  the  parts  of  the  body,  according  to  the 
descriptions  contained  in  the  works  of  Galen,  and, 
when  any  demonstrations  were  made,  dogs  and  pigs 
were  the  subjects;  but  in  1315  Moxdini  de  Luzzi, 
Professor  of  Anatomy  at  Bologna,  dissected  the 
human  subject  before  his  pupils,  for  the  first  time, 
it  is  asserted,  for  seventeen  centuries,  and  he  subse- 
quently composed  a  treatise  on  anatomy,  in  which 
the  different  parts  of  the  human  body  were  described 
from  nature.  This  work,  imperfect  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, was  considered  classical  for  more  than  two 
centuries. 

The  bold  and  successful  experiment  of  Mondini 
was  successfully  repeated  by  others,  and  soon  the 
greater  number  of  the  universities  began  to  open, 
several  times  in  each  year,  human  bodies,  whose 
structure  they  demonstrated  to  the  pupils.  The 
previous  dissection  of  the  subjects,  however,  which 
served  for  those  demonstrations,  was  confided  to  a 


DISSECTIONS  OF  HUMAN  BODIES.  ■     215 

barber's  boy,  who  had  no  other  instrument  than  a 
razor,  which  he  of  course  used  in  an  unskilful  man- 
ner; then  the  professor,  furnished  with  the  treatise 
of  Mondini,  read  the  description  of  the  parts  thus 
clumsily  prepared  to  his  auditors. 

After  Mondini,  and  in  the  same  century,  ITicolas 
Betrucci,  Peter  de  la  Cerlata,  better  known  under 
the  name  of  Argelata,  both  professors  at  Bologna, 
Henry  de  Hermondaville,  who  taught  at  Paris,  and 
several  others  distinguished  themselves  by  their 
zeal  and  dexterity  in  anatomical  demonstrations. 

The  progress  which  the  healing  art,  aided  by 
practical  anatomy,  made  at  this  period  was  but 
trifling.  An  important  obstacle  existed  to  the 
advancement  of  the  science  in  the  prodigious  and 
to-be-regretted  success  everywhere  acquired  by  judi- 
ciary astrology,  as  well  as  by  every  other  part  of  the 
theosophy  with  which  the  writings  of  the  Arabians, 
and  especially  those  of  Averrhoes,  had  infested  the 
schools. 

One  of  the  most  dangerous  propagators  of  these 
doctrines — of  those  physicians  whom  Haller  has 
called  Arabists — was  Arnold  of  Yilla  iTova,  a  pro- 
fessor at  Barcelona,  a  man  of  considerable  talents, 
but  more  famed  for  his  chemical  than  for  his  medical 
knowledge ;  to  him  we  are  indebted  for  the  use  of 
tinctures.  His  astrological  instruction  he  received 
from  the  celebrated  Raymond  Lully. 

Peter  Julian  the  Spaniard,  afterwards  Pope  John 
XX.,  was  also  the  author  of  several  works,  both 
physiological  and  practical,  compiled  from  the  Greek 
and  Arabian  writers,  but  the  most  famous  of  the 
Arabists  was  Bernard  de   Gordon,  whom  certain 


2 1 6  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

authors  assert  to  have  been  born  in  Scotland.  He 
was  professor  at  Montpellier  early  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  his  system  of  the  practice  of  medicine, 
entitled  Lilium  Ifedicince,  contains  some  remedies 
not  yet  wholly  forgotten. 

The  doctrine,  however,  which  he  taught  at  Mont- 
pellier, and  consigned  in  his  works,  is  a  sad  example 
of  the  extent  of  degradation  which  the  human  mind 
is  capable  of  attaining.  At  the  end  of  this  century 
lived  Guy  de  Chauliac,  and  although  he  was  never 
a  professor,  his  treatise  on  surgery  was  the  basis  of 
instruction  over  all  Europe  until  Ambrose  Pare 
published  his  celebrated  work  on  the  same  subject. 

The  rebellion  of  the  ISTeapolitans  against  Emperor 
Conrad  lY.,  son  of  Frederic  II.,  excited  the  anger  of 
that  prince,  who  inflicted  a  severe  punishment  on 
the  city  of  Naples  by  issuing  an  edict  dated  1252,  in 
which  he  invited  by  the  most  seductive  promises,  all 
the  literati  to  go  to  Salernum  in  order  to  strengthen 
that  celebrated  school,  and  to  transform  it  into  a 
great  university;  but  he  was  not  successful  in  his 
design  of  injuring  Xaples.  Death  surprised  him  in 
1254,  and  Salernum  remained  a  simple  school  of 
medicine,  which  at  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury had  already  lost  its  ancient  splendor.  The  laws 
relative  to  the  healing  art  were,  it  is  true,  confirmed 
in  1365,  by  Queen  Jane,  but  the  school  appears  to  have 
been  so  much  eclipsed  after  the  fourteenth  century 
by  those  of  Bologna  and  of  Paris,  that  it  could  never 
recover  the  eclat  it  had  enjoyed.  The  words  of  Pe- 
trarch prove  that  in  his  time  it  had  almost  entirely 
lost  its  reputation. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

STATE    OF   MEDICINE   DURING   THE   FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Absurdities  taught  in  the  schools,  and  afterwards  denounced  by 
the  faculty  of  Paris — Distinguished  medical  men  of  the  day — 
Surgery  in  the  hands  of  the  barbers  and  bathers — Scarcity  of 
operators  in  Europe — Operation  for  replacing  the  nose  when 
lost — Basil  Valentine,  the  monk,  and  his  experiments  with 
antimony,  &c. — Lectures  of  Chrysolore,  ambassador  of  the 
Emperor  of  the  East — Invention  of  printing — Prevalence  of 
scurvy,  lues  venerea,  &c. 

Medical  instruction  made  but  little  improvement 
in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  false  philosophy  of  the 
Arabians,  as  already  stated,  pervaded  the  majority 
of  the  schools  and  counteracted  the  development  of 
reason.  Thus,  Marcellus  Ficinus,  a  Florentine 
physician  who  was  celebrated  in  those  times,  uniting 
with  some  wise  precepts  on  hygiene  the  most  absurd 
conceits  of  judiciary  astrology,  laid  it  down  as  a 
principle  that  the  vital  spirits  of  man  are  of  a  nature 
similar  to  that  of  the  ether,  which  according  to  the 
theosophical  philosophy  fills  the  space  in  which  the 
stars  move,  and  he  concluded  that  if  we  could 
procure  this  ether  we  might  attain  considerable 
longevity;  an  effect  which,  according  to  him,  the 
preparations  of  gold  taken  internally  would  likewise 
produce.      He    attributed   a   particular   virtue    to 


2 1 8  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

medicines  prepared  during  the  conjunction  of  Jupi- 
ter and  Yenus.  Many  similar  absurdities  which 
were  taught  at  this  period  in  the  public  schools 
might  be  quoted.  There  were,  indeed,  but  few 
minds  which  resisted  the  admission  of  this  myste- 
rious science. 

Amongst  those,  however,  who  most  usefully 
attacked  it  were  the  chancellor  Gerson  and  the 
learned  Pic  de  la  Mirandole.  The  former  con- 
demned all  the  superstitious  means  defended  by  the 
astrologists,  and  was  the  author  of  a  work  full  of 
good  sense,  in  which  the  theosophical  precepts  of  the 
time  had  their  just  value  assigned  to  them.  Lastly 
the  faculty  of  Paris  denounced  it,  holding  it  to  be 
diabolical  and  dangerous. 

Amongst  the  physicians  whose  works  were  ad- 
vantageous to  science  during  this  century  was  Bar- 
tholomew MoNTAGXANA  (A.D.  1460),  professor  at 
Padua,  who  cultivated  anatomy  and  boasted  of  hav- 
ing opened  fourteen  subjects,  a  thing  remarkable  for 
the  time. 

Michael  Savonarola,  professor  at  Ferrara,  is  also 
highly  worthy  of  mention  amongst  the  learned  of 
those  times,  not  only  as  being  a  judicious  observer 
on  several  practical  points,  but  because  he  strongly 
combated  the  erroneous  doctrines  of  Averrhoes  and 
strenuously  opposed  the  false  philosophy  which  at 
that  time  possessed  the  schools. 

In  this  century  some  useful  works  on  materia 
medica  and  pharmacy  were  published,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  of  which  was  that  of  Saladin,  a 
physician  of  I^aples.     Surgery,  however,  remained 


SUR  GER  V  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTUR  Y.      219 

stationary  in  the  hands  of  the  barbers  and  bathers, 
who  could  neither  read  nor  write.  Scarcely  at  this 
period  was  there  in  Europe  a  man  who  was  able  to 
perform  operations.  They  who  required  an  oculist 
had  to  seek  him  in  Asia,  where  they  found  some  pos- 
sessed of  at  least  dexterity  of  hand. 

The  king  of  Hungary,  Matthew  Corvin,  being 
wounded  in  battle  and  unable  to  find  a  surgeon  who 
could  cure  him,  published  through  Europe  that  he 
would  load  with  honors  and  riches  any  one  who 
should  be  successful.  Hans  de  Dockenbourg,  an 
Alsacian,  succeeded  in  restoring  his  majesty  to 
health  and  received  the  rewards  which  he  offered. 

Leonard  Bertapaglia,  professor  of  surgery  at 
Padua,  and  who  published  a  commentary  on  the 
fourth  book  of  Avicenna,  may  be  separated  from  the 
barbers  on  account  of  his  classical  instruction  only ; 
his  surgical  theory  being  filled  with  absurdities. 

It  was  in  the  fifteenth  century  that  was  devised 
the  operation  for  replacing  the  nose  when  lost  by 
accident  or  disease.  The  Italians,  Vincent  Vianeo, 
Branca  and  Bojani,  were  the  first  who  attempted  it. 
They  cut  from  the  arm  a  piece  of  flesh,  leaving  it 
adherent  to  the  limb  by  a  few  fibres  only ;  giving  to 
this  flap  the  shape  of  the  nose,  they  applied  it  to  the 
raw  surface  where  the  nose  had  existed,  the  arm 
being  kept  tied  up  to  the  countenance,  and,  when 
the  adhesion  was  complete,  they  divided  the  parts 
connecting  the  artificial  nose  with  the  arm.  This 
operation,  as  we  shall  presently  learn,  was  after- 
wards improved  by  Tagliacozzi. 

About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  lived 


2  2  o  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

• 

Basil  Yalextixe,  a  German  Benedictine  monk, 
who  led  the  way  to  the  internal  administration  of 
metallic  medicine  by  a  variety  of  experiments  on 
the  nature  of  antimony,  with  which,  if  we  may  credit 
vague  tradition,  he  was  extremely  unfortunate  upon 
his  brother  monks,  all  of  whom  he  injured  by  it, 
and  hence  the  name  of  this  drug  has  been  supposed 
to  be  derived,  aj^ti-/to»'a;t»/5'-  To  Basil  Valentine  we 
are  also  indebted  for  the  discovery  of  the  volatile 
alkali  and  of  its  preparation  from  sal  ammoniac. 
He  .also  first  used  mineral  acids  as  solvents,  and 
noticed  the  production  of  ether  from  alcohol.  He 
seems  also  to  have  understood  the  tonic  virtues  of 
the  sulphate  of  iron. 

Towards  the  end  of  this  century  lived  Alexander 
Bexedetti,  professor  at  Padua,  who  contributed 
greatly  to  the  improvement  of  anatomy  and  surgery 
in  Italy.  At  this  period  also  a  remarkable  event 
occurred  which  prepared  the  way  for  the  improve- 
ments of  the  following  century.  This  was  the  ar- 
rival in  Italy  of  Emmaxuel  Chrysolore,  ambassador 
from  Emmanuel  Palaeologus,  Emperor  of  the  East. 
This  sovereign  sent  his  ambassadors  to  the  courts  of 
the  Christian  princes  to  solicit  aid  from  them  against 
the  Mussulmans,  who  continually  threatened  his 
states.  As  the  negotiation,  the  result  of  which  did 
not  fulfil  the  expectation  of  the  emperor,  continued 
for  a  long  time,  Chrysolore  during  his  residence  at 
Venice  taught  there  publicly  the  different  branches 
of  erudition  which  had  been  cultivated  at  Byzan- 
tium since  the  destruction  of  the  Roman  Empire  of 
the  West. 


CHRYSOLORE  THE  AMBASSADOR. 


The  G-reek  language  was  chiefly  the  subject  of 
the  lectures  of  Chrysolore,  explaining  the  original 
works  of  the  authors  of  antiquity,  of  which  the  de- 
fective translation  of  the  Arabians  gave  but  a  feeble 
and  erroneous  idea.  The  Greek  ambassador  had 
some  zealous  and  clever  disciples ;  his  lectures  were 
carried  into  several  cities  of  Italy,  and  the  taste  for 
proper  subjects  of  study  was  extended  over  all 
Europe.  The  works  of  Plato  and  of  Aristotle  were 
read,  and  the  errors  foisted  upon  them  by  the  Ara- 
bians rectified.  These  and  these  new  acquirements 
ultimately  tended  to  the  civilization  of  Europe. 

During  the  obscurity  of  this  and  the  following 
centur}^,  Greece  still  retained  her  former  treasures, 
and  could  boast  of  a  few  ph^^sicians  to  whom  they 
were  not  unknown,  and  by  whom  they  were  not 
neglected.  A  warlike  race  whose  martial  spirit  was 
aided  by  enthusiasm  burst  at  once  from  its  fastnesses 
and  soon  overwhelmed  the  Eoman  empire  in  the 
East.  The  Turkish  Emperor  Amurat,  in  the  year 
1430,  took  by  storm  Thessalonica,  from  whence 
Theodore  Gaza,  a  man  of  considerable  learning  es- 
caped with  some  of  his  literary  treasures  to  Italy. 
When  Constantinople  was  taken  a  few  years  after- 
wards, and  the  Byzantine  kingdom  wholly  over- 
turned, many  others  followed  his  example.  All 
were  warmly  received  by  Lorenzo  di  Medicis,  and 
the  manuscripts  thus  rescued  from  oblivion  soon 
disseminated  the  stores  of  Grecian  poetry,  history, 
philosophy,  and  medicine. 

The  human  mind  was  roused  from  its  lethargy  by 
several  other  occurrences  in  this  century.     The  in- 


22  2  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 


vention  of  printing  of  course  tended  very  conside- 
rably to  the  communication  of  knowledge.  Colon 
and  De  Gama  discovered  or  facilitated  the  access  to 
either  India,  from  whence  the  materia  medica  gained 
new  acquisitions.  The  scurvy,  first  observed  in  Ger- 
many in  1482,  the  sudor  Anglicanus,  first  noticed 
about  the  same  time,  followed  by  lues  venerea  and 
the  morbus  petechialis  in  Italy,  equally  animated 
the  spirit  of  inquiry  to  prevent  or  relieve  the  effects 
of  such  distressing  scourges. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Improved  taste  and  knowledge  of  medicine — New  translations 
of  Hippocrates  and  Galen — The  Royal  College  of  Physicians 
founded — Multitude  of  editors,  commentators,  &c. — Distin- 
guished writers  on  practical  medicine — Medical  controversies 
of  this  century— John  Argentier  and  his  principles  of  reform — 
Belief  in  demons  as  a  cause  of  disease — Alchemy  in  medicine 
— Paracelsus,  his  life,  opinions,  and  vagaries — Chemical  medi- 
cines more  generally  employed — New  pharmacopoeias — Re- 
markable progress  of  anatomy  and  surgery — Improvement  in 
surgical  operations — Treatment  of  gunshot  wounds — Study  of 
special  surgical  diseases — Taghacozzi  and  his  rhinoplastic  ope- 
ration— Remarkable  discoveries  in  anatomy — The  days  of  Syl- 
vius, Vesalius,  Pare,  Fallopius,  Fabricius,  and  Eustachius. 

The  knowledge  possessed  by  the  learned  of  this 
century  of  the  Greek  language  procured  them,  as 
already  remarked,  the  inappreciable  advantage  of 
reading  the  works  of  Hippocrates  and  others  in  their 
purity,  and  of  being  able  to  expound  them  to  their 
pupils.  At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  Nicolas 
Leonicenus,  of  Venice,  professor  at  Padua  and  Fer- 
rara,  and  who  taught  there  for  more  than  sixty 
years,  employed  his  talents  in  the  promulgation  of 
Hippocratic  medicine.  He  translated  into  Latin 
the  works  of  the  Father  of  Medicine,  and  explained 
them  in  his  lectures.  Leonicenus  did  not,  however, 
confine  himself  to  the  teachins:  of  the  doctrines  of 


2  2  4  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE, 

Hippocrates;  he  did  justice  to  those  parts  of  the 
theories  aud  practice  of  the  Arabians  which  merited 
it,  and  thus  advanced  the  already  improving  medi- 
cal taste  which  was  being  promulgated  from  the 
schools  of  Italy  to  those  of  France.  He  died  in 
1524. 

After  Leonicenus  the  renowed  Thomas  Linacre, 
of  Canterbury,  who  had  frequented  the  Italian 
schools,  and  was  phj-sician  to  Henry  YIII.  of  Eng- 
land, published  a  faithful  translation  of  the  works 
of  Hippocrates  into  Latin.  He  was  the  first  person 
who  in  England  employed  the  Latin  language  in  his 
writings.  Linacre  rendered  everlasting  service  to 
medical  science  by  appropriating  the  fortune  he  had 
acquired  at  court  to  the  founding  at  Oxford  and 
'Cambridge  of  a  chair  of  Hippocratic  and  Galenical 
medicine.  It  was  throuo-h  him  also  that  the  estab- 
lishment  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  London  was 
brought  about,  prior  to  this  period  the  right  of 
licensing  practitioners  in  London  seeming  to  have 
been  vested  solely  in  the  bishops.  Leonicenus  and 
Linacre  soon  had  imitators.  John  Gonthier,  of 
Andernach,  professor  of  the  Faculty  of  Paris, 
translated  Galen  and  the  chief  of  the  Greek  writers. 
In  Germany,  also,  Cornarus  published  a  good  trans- 
lation of  Hippocrates,  and  refuted  the  false  philo- 
sophy of  the  Arabians. 

During  this  period  Fracastorius  and  Massa  were 
the  chief  luminaries  of  the  Italian  schools ;  Sylvius 
and  Fernelius  of  the  Parisian.  The  latter  victori- 
ously opposed  the  humoral  pathology  of  Galen  and 
sowed  the  first  seeds  of  Solidism,  a  system  subse- 


WRITERS  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.      225 

quently  embraced  by  Hoffmann  and  his  school. 
Lommius,  the  excellent  author  of  the  Observationes 
Medicinales,  was  a  disciple  of  Fernelius,  and  prac- 
tised at  Brussels.  All  these  authors  were  zealous 
supporters  of  Hippocratic  medicine,  and  with  equal 
enthusiasm  and  perseverance  endeavored  to  re- 
vive it. 

Botal,  a  Piedmontese  of  this  era,  a  disciple  of 
Fernelius,  chief  physician  to  Charles  IX.  and  Henry 
II.  of  France,  chiefly  distinguished  himself  by  his 
recommendation  of  profuse  bleeding.  Duretus,  IS". 
Piso,  and  Hollerius  were  also  French  physicians, 
but  with  more  correct  views  under  the  guidance  of 
Hippocrates,  whom  they  admired  and  illustrated. 
De  Gorris  (Gorrseus)  and  Foesius  of  Dijon  were 
equally  able  illustrators  of  the  ancients  in  the  De- 
finitiones  Medicm  and  (Economia  Hippoeratis.  Fores- 
tius  and  C.  Piso  wrote  several  interestino^  obser- 
vations  on  prognosis,  with  select  observations  and 
consultations. 

An  immense  multitude  of  editors,  commentators, 
scholiasts,  &c.,  during  this  century  were  employed 
on  the  writings  of  Hippocrates  and  Galen,  whom 
they  quoted  as  so  many  oracles.  The  study,  how- 
ever, had  a  considerable  effect  in  bringing  them  back 
to  the  patient  reflection  which  distinguished  Hippo- 
crates and  his  school.  Amongst  the  distinguished 
writers  on  practical  medicine  in  addition  to  those 
previously  mentioned,  were  Zwinger  of  Basle  in 
Switzerland,  Mercurialis  (A.D.  1533),  who  published 
a  classical  work  on  the  gymnastics  of  the  ancients, 
Amatus  Lusitanus  and  Prosper  Alpinus  (A.D. 
15 


226  HISTOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

1553),  who  wrote  an  excellent  work  on  the  medicine 
of  the  Egyptians. 

We  need  not  dwell  on  the  disputes  relative  to  the 
proper  place  for  bleeding  according  to  the  nature  or 
seat  of  diseases.  These  controversies  respecting  re- 
vulsion and  derivation  which  went  on  during  the 
whole  course  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  which 
each  party  speculated  according  to  the  humoral 
notions  of  the  time  in  vogue,  could  not  fail  to  retard 
the  progress  of  the  art.  The  discussion,  however, 
excited  the  researchesof  anatomists,  researches  which 
were  not  without  their  use'  in  the  subsequent  dis- 
covery of  the  circulation  of  the  blood. 

The  writings  of  the  G-reeks  which  were  circulated 
amongst  physicians  liberated  them  during  this  cen- 
tury from  the  servitude  in  which  they  had  been  kept 
by  the  erroneous  theories  of  the  Arabians,  and  a  spirit 
of  criticism  was  introduced  into  the  schools.  John 
Argextier,  a  Piedmontese  physician  who  taught 
successively  at  Pisa,  Naples,  and  Turin,  signalized 
himself  by  his  principles  of  reformation  in  teaching. 
He  taught  that  medicine  ought  to  be  considered  as 
a  science  of  observation  and  experience,  and  demon- 
strated, contrary  to  the  opinions  at  the  time  generally 
received,  that  the  nails,  hair,  and  humors  of  the 
human  body  are  integrant  parts  of  its  composition ; 
that  every  part  of  the  frame,  in  short,  receives  its 
nourishment  from  the  blood :  whilst  Galen  and  his 
followers  pointed  out  certain  parts  as  being  vivified 
by  the  semen.  He  refuted  also  a  multitude  of  other 
erroneous  physiological  ideas  of  the  ancients  which 
were  defended  by  the  moderns,  but  frequently  the 


INFL  UENCE  OF  DEMONS  IN  DISEASE.  227 

theories  he  substituted  were  as  objectionable  as  those 
which  he  combated.  The  opinions  of  Argentier 
found  partisans  in  different  universities,  and  were 
taught  at  Montpellier  by  two  celebrated  professors — 
Laurent  Joubert  and  Guillaume  Rondelet. 

ils^otwithstanding  the  taste  for  accurate  observation 
exhibited  by  several  intelligent  professors,  theoso]Dhy, 
and  that  of  the  most  degrading  character,  became  in 
some  schools  intimately  connected  with  medicine. 
Henry  Corneille  Agrippa  of  Bologna,  for  example, 
in  different  cities  of  Europe,  as  London,  Paris,  &c., 
j)romulgated  the  most  gross  errors.  The  absurd 
reveries  of  this  visionary,  as  contained  in  his  works, 
cannot  be  perused  without  a  feeling  of  contempt  and 
pity.  He  considered,  for  instance,  all  the  Hebrew 
letters  to  have  a  natural  sio-nification,  foundino-  his 
opinion  on  the  idea  that  Hebrew  is  the  most  sacred 
and  ancient  language,  and  adding  that  when  demons 
speak  they  always  do  so  in  Hebrew. 

Demons  he  considered  to  exist  over  the  whole  of 
nature,  some  dwelling  in  fire  or  air,  on  the  land  or 
in  water,  others  in  the  constitutions,  man  constrain- 
ing all  these  to  obey  him  by  proper  fumigations  with 
certain  appropriate  ingredients.  According  to  this 
absurd  doctrine,  all  diseases  are  infl.uenced  by  demons, 
a  doctrine,  which,  strange  to  say,  spread  through  all 
the  schools.  Astrology  was  taught  in  those  of  the 
greatest  celebrity  during  this  century,  and  the  most 
distinguished  minds  could  with  difficulty  prevent 
the  reception  of  this  deplorable  contagion. 

The  alchemists  also  now  came  to  unite  themselves 
with  the  abettors  of  theosophy,  but  it  was  reserved 


2  28  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE, 

for  Paracelsus  and  Van  Helmont  to  inundate  the 
whole  science  with  the  mysticism  of  alchemical  doc- 
trines and  language. 

Paracelsus  lived  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  He  was  an  ignorant  boaster,  but  he  still 
had  the  merit  of  having  first  introduced  chemical 
remedies  into  medicine,  and  of  subduing  the  preju- 
dices of  the  Galenical  physicians  against  the  produc- 
tions of  the  laboratory.  He  declared  that  antimony 
was  not  to  be  equalled  for  medicinal  virtue  by  any 
other  substance  in  nature,  and  he  also  appears  to 
have  first  used  mercury  internally.  He  employed 
lead  internally  in  fevers,  and  gives  directions  for  the 
preparation  of  red  precipitate  with  mercury  and 
aqua  fortis. 

His  vanity  was  such  as  to  lead  him  to  assert  that 
Hippocrates  was  produced  by  the  genius  of  Greece, 
as  he  was  by  that  of  Germany,  adding  in  his  delirium 
that  all  the  universities  united  had  not  as  much 
knowledge  as  his  beard,  and  that  the  hairs  of  his 
forehead  had  more  instruction  than  all  writers  put 
together.  Paracelsus  maintained  that  the  human 
body  is  composed  of  salt,  sulphur,  and  mercury,  and 
that  in  these  "three  first  substances,"  as  he  calls 
them,  health  and  disease  consist ;  that  the  mercury 
in  proportion  to  its  volatility  produces  tremors,  mor- 
tifications in  the  ligaments,  madness,  frenzy,  and 
delirium,  and  that  fevers,  phlegmons,  and  the  jaun- 
dice are  the  offspring  of  the  sulphureous  principle, 
while  he  supposed  that  the  colic,  stone,  gravel,  gout, 
and  sciatica  derive  their  origin  from  salt. 


BOASTING  QUACKERY  OF  PARACELSUS.        229 

His  real  name  was  Philip  Hochener,  which  he 
changed,  on  commencing  his  professional  career, 
into  Philippus  Aureolus  Theophrastus  Bombastus 
Paracelsus,  a  name  which  is  quite  characteristic  of 
the  boasting  quackery  of  the  man.  At  an  early 
age  he  visited  the  most  renowned  towns  in  Europe, 
and  returning  to  his  native  country  was  made  Pro- 
fessor of  Medicine  and  Chemistry  at  Basle  in  Switzer- 
land. He  availed  himself  of  this  situation  not  to 
instruct  the  unlearned,  but  to  vilify  his  contempo- 
raries and  predecessors. 

It  is  generally  said  that  his  dissolute  manners  and 
intractable  temper  obliged  him  to  quit  this  occupa- 
tion, but  others  have  told  a  more  plausible  story. 
It  is  said  that  a  rich  canon  fell  sick,  and,  getting 
frightened,  offered  one  hundred  florins  to  any  one 
who  would  cure  him.  Paracelsus  administered  three 
pills,  and  the  canon  got  well;  but,  being  so  soon  re- 
stored, and  by  such  simple  means,  he  refused  to 
fulfil  his  promise.  The  matter  was  brought  before 
a  magistrate,  who  decreed  that  the  doctor  should 
only  recover  the  customary  fee.  Irritated  at  the 
flimsy  excuses  and  unpardonable  ingratitude  of  the 
priest,  and  at  the  magistrate's  partial  decision,  Pa- 
racelsus declared  that  he  would  leave  the  inhabitants 
of  Basle  to  the  eternal  destruction  which  they 
deserved.  He  then  retired  to  Strasburgh,  and 
thence  to  Hungary,  where  he  took  to  drinking,  and, 
notwithstanding  his  boasting  that  he  possessed  a 
universal  medicine  to  secure  immortality,  he  died 
in  a  hospital  in  the  forty-third  year  of  his  age. 

Although,  however,  what  is   almost   incredible, 


230  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

the  chemical  sect,  with  Paracelsus  at  their  head, 
were  very  successful,  they  were  aware  of  the  unpo- 
pularity of  their  means ;  people  were  frightened  at 
the  idea  of  mercury  and  antimony,  which  were  ac- 
cordingly exhibited  under  fantastic  and  assumed 
names. 

In  Ens^land  chemical  medicines  be2:an  to  be  em- 
ployed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  In  1644  Schroder 
published  his  Chemico- Medical  Pharmacopoeia^  and 
shortly  after,  that  of  the  London  College  made  its 
ajjpearance.  The  great  modern  improvements  in 
chemistry  would  seem  indeed  to  have  sprung  from 
its  application  to  medicine,  and  the  foundations  of 
chemical  science  are  principally  to  be  found  in  the 
medical  and  pharmaceutical  writers  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  who  rescued  it  from  the  hands  of  the  al- 
chemical pretenders  and  gave  it  a  place  and  character 
of  its  own. 

"Whilst  the  state  of  medicine,  properly  so  called, 
had  become  corrupted  and  deteriorated  by  the  suc- 
cess everywhere  obtained  by  the  introduction  of 
theosophy,  surgery  and  anatomy  made  remarkable 
progress  in  the  majority  of  the  schools  of  Europe. 
Prior  to  the  sixteenth  century  the  operation  of  tre- 
panning and  that  of  lithotomy  were  never  under- 
taken by  surgeons  by  profession.  The  professors  in 
4:heir  lectures  spoke  of  the  diseases  which  needed 
those  operations,  but  left  them  to  the  charlatans  of 
Italy. 

A  French  surgeon,  Germain  Colot,  about  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  having  seen  the  operation 
of  lithotomy  executed   by  an   itinerant  at  Milan, 


G UNSHO  T  WO  UNDS  A  SUR GICAL  NO  VEL  TV.      231 

performed  it  in  France,  making  his  first  trial  on  a 
criminal  under  sentence  of  death.  In  the  sixteenth 
century  this  operation  was  repeatedly  practised  by 
John  de  Romain,  a  surgeon  at  Cremona,  and  by 
Mariano  Santo  de  Barletta,  surgeon  at  ISTaples,  a 
pupil  of  Romain.  From  Italy  these  improved  ope- 
rations were  practised  in  France,  especially  by  Lau- 
rent Colot,  who  operated  so  successfully  that  his 
fame  was  celebrated  over  Europe.  Still  later  in  this 
century,  Peter  Franco  became  renowned  as  a  litho- 
tomist  and  as  the  inventor  of  several  improved  in- 
struments for  that  operation. 

Grunshot  wounds  were  at  this  period  new  diseases, 
regarding  the  cure  of  which  no  information  could  be 
acquired  from  the  ancients.  The  surgeons  were 
therefore  compelled  to  draw  upon  their  own  re- 
sources, and  the  most  incongruous  theories  were  the 
consequence,  as  is  strongly  exhibited  in  the  works  of 
Yigo,  the  Genoese.  This  branch  of  the  art  was, 
however,  much  improved  by  the  labors  of  Ambrose 
Pare  (A.D.  1509-1590),  Maggi,  Leone,  a  professor  at 
Pavia,  Botal,  a  celebrated  anatomist,  Felix  Wurz, 
a  German  surgeon,  Guillemeau,  a  pupil  of  Pare,  and 
others.  Vigo  gave  also  in  his  lectures  rules  for  the 
operation  of  the  trepan,  pointing  out  the  cases  in 
which  the  operation  is  required. 

The  diseases  of  the  urinary  organs,  which  had 
become  more  common  after  the  introduction  of 
syphilis,  were  likewise  the  objects  of  surgical  atten- 
tion. At  this  time  the  introduction  of  bougies  of 
wax  or  lead  for  the  dilatation  of  the  urethra  was 
proposed  and  practised,  but  in  a  very  clumsy  and 


232  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

imperfect  manner.  It  was  not  until  a  later  period 
that  plaster  bougies  were  invented,  the  first  instance 
of  success  from  their  use  with  which  we  are  acquainted 
being  that  of  Henry  III.  of  France.  This  prince, 
when  returning  from  Poland,  in  passing  through 
Venice,  contracted  a  disease  which  by  bad  treatment 
degenerated  into  a  stricture  of  the  urethra,  when  an 
expert  physician  of  the  time,  Mayerne,  thought  of 
introducing  plaster  bougies  for  the  purpose  of  widen- 
ing the  canal,  and  by  this  means  cured  his  patient. 

It  was  in  this  century  that  Gaspard  Tagliacozzi, 
professor  at  Bologna,  improved  the  operation  for 
forming  a  new  nose  at  the  expense  of  the  biceps 
muscle  of  the  individual,  now  known  as  the  Tallia- 
cotian  operation.  The  most  skilful  surgeons  and 
anatomists  of  the  time,  as  Fallopius,  Yesalius,  Par^, 
and  Fabricius  Hildanus,  thought  it  necessary  to 
apologize  for  this  graft,  as  Tagliacozzi  called  it,  but 
that  surgeon  in  his  enthusiasm  asserted  that  the 
grafted  nose  possessed  a  more  acute  sense  of  smell 
than  a  natural  one.  On  this  occasion  Tagliacozzi 
excited  such  an  enthusiasm  amono-st  his  fellow-citi- 
zens,  that  they  erected  a  statue  to  him,  on  which 
he  was  represented  holding  a  nose  in  his  hand. 

Surgical  education  at  Paris  acquired  fresh  lustre 
during  this  century.  The  College  of  Surgery  under 
the  protection  of  Guilliaume  Vavasseur,  first  surgeon 
of  Francis  I.,  became  a  celebrated  school.  The  art 
was  much  improved  also  by  the  labors  of  Pare,  Fal- 
lopius, Berenger  de  Carpi,  and  others. 

The  greatest  discoveries  which  signalized  the 
sixteenth  century  were  those  which  took  place  in 


CELEBRATED  ANATOMISTS  OF  THE  DAY.      233 

anatomy.  Every  part  of  the  human  frame  was 
carefully  studied,  and  important  discoveries  made. 
Those  professors  who  contributed  more  especially  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  the  human  body 
were  Berenger  de  Carpi,  who  dissected  more  than  one 
hundred  subjects,  and  to  whom  the  art  is  indebted 
for  numerous  discoveries ;  James  Dubois,  who  Latin- 
ized his  name  (Sylvius),  and  was  the  master  of  the 
great  Vesalius  and  the  true  founder  of  anatomy  in 
France,  and  also  the  first  who  injected  the  blood- 
vessels ;  Andreas  Vesalius,  the  most  accurate 
anatomist  of  the  day,  who  was  the  author  of  the 
first  anatomical  plates  executed  after  nature ;  Eusta- 
chius,  who  discovered  the  Eustachian  tube ;  Gabriel 
Fallopius,  who  first  described  the  Fallopian  tube, 
so  called  after  him  ;  Fabricius  ab  Acquapendente, 
who  first  described  the  valves  of  the  veins,  a  discov- 
ery which  contributed  to  facilitate  that  of  the  circu- 
lation of  the  blood;  and  lastly,  Michael  Servetus, 
who  also  contributed  to  the  same  discovery  which 
took  place  in  the  following  centurj^  The  latter 
anatomist  comprehended  the  lesser  circulation,  or 
that  through  the  lungs,  but  the  honor  of  establish- 
ing the  accurate  theory  of  the  general  circulation 
was  reserved  for  Harvey, 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURING  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Harvey's  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood — Advance  of 
practical  medicine — Rosicrucians — Eclectic  conciliators — Van 
Helmont  and  his  doctrines— Sympathetic  powder  of  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby— Mathematical  sect— Borelli,  Bellini,  Willis,  Keill,  and 
other  celebrated  physicians  and  philosophers — Humoral  pa- 
thology— Malpighi,  Bartholin,  Steno,  Aselli,  Wirsung,  Pec- 
quet, Wharton,  and  their  discoveries  in  the  glandular  system, 
&c. — The  days  of  Sydenham,  Baglivi,  and  Boerhaave — Dis- 
tinguished contributors  to  medical  science. 

This  period  is  signalized  by  the  discovery  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  the  most  important  which 
has  ever  been  made  in  medicine,  and  the  source  of 
most  of  the  subsequent  improvements.  The  honor 
of  it  belongs  to  William  Harvey,  physician  to 
James  I.  and  Charles  II.  of  England,  and  Professor 
of  Anatomy  to  the  College  of  Physicians  in  London, 
who  in  the  year  1619  made  known  to  his  pupils  the 
general  mechanism  of  the  circulation.  This  great 
discovery  was  for  a  long  time  contested  and  at- 
tacked from  all  sides  with  the  greatest  acrimony, 
and  it  was  remarked  by  Hume,  as  an  evidence  of 
obstinate  adherence  to  preconceived  opinions,  that 
no  physician  in  Europe  who  had  reached  forty  years 
of  age  ever  to  the  end  of  his  life  adopted  Harvey's 
doctrine  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood.     It  was  a 


NOVEL  SCHOOLS  OF  MEDICAL  FAITH.  235 

great  triumph  for  Harvey,  however,  when  such  an 
anatomist  as  John  Riolan,  of  the  Faculty  of  Paris, 
who  had  heen  one  of  the  most  violent  opponents  of 
the  new  theory,  voluntarily  succumhed,  and  became 
one  of  its  warmest  advocates,  during  the  same  cen- 
tury. 

Malpighi  of  Bologna  soon  demonstrated  micro- 
scopically the  course  of  the  corpuscles  of  the  blood 
in  the  minute  vessels,  and  also  corroborated  the  fact 
of  the  communication  between  the  veins  and  the 
arteries.  The  teachings  of  Harvey  were  also  con- 
firmed by  the  experiments  on  infusion  of  medical 
substances  into  the  veins  and  on  transfusion  of  the 
blood  of  one  animal  into  the  body  of  another,  which 
were  made  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  and  England 
especially. 

Whilst  anatomy  and  physiology  in  this  century 
made  a  philosophical  progress  and  one  calculated  to 
extend  the  domain  of  the  science,  the  advance  of 
practical  medicine  was  retarded  by  the  false  doc- 
trines Avhich  infested  the  schools.  A  sect  of  fanati- 
cal physicians,  known  under  the  name  of  Rosicru- 
cians,  united  their  principles  to  those  of  Paracelsus, 
and  for  a  long  time  diverted  medicine  from  its  true 
object  by  seeking  after  modes  of  curing  diseases  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  occult  sciences.  These  dream- 
ers pretended  to  cure  all  diseases  by  the  aid  of  faith 
and  the  imagination,  asserting  that  the  most  serious 
disorder  might  be  suddenly  cured  by  the  sole  glance 
of  a  true  Rosicrucian. 

Another  school  of  medicine  also  appeared  at  this 


2:^6  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE, 

time,  known  under  the  denomination  of  the  Eclectic 
Conciliators.  These  physicians,  more  intelligent 
than  the  Rosicrucians,  were  acquainted  with  the 
medical  theories  of  the  ancients,  but  they  had  the 
folly  to  unite'  them  with  the  absurd  principles  of 
Paracelsus.  The  j^hysicians  of  this  sect,  along  with 
considerable  knowledge,  possessed  the  most  abject 
credulity.  Thus,  they  believed  in  the  transmutation 
of  metals,  in  the  power  of  witchcraft,  the  possi- 
bility of  holding  a  correspondence  with  the  devil,  &c. 
Daniel  Sennertus,  a  professor  at  Wittemberg,  who 
possessed  considerable  erudition,  was  one  of  these 
eclectics. 

Van  Helmont,  whose  doctrines  assimilated  with 
those  of  Paracelsus,  was  a  man  of  much  superior 
talents,  distinguished  by  sagacity  and  judgment, 
which  render  his  works  very  interesting  to  the  mo- 
dern physician.  His  son  was  more  mystical  than 
the  father,  but  acute  and  ingenious,  and  w^as  the 
friend  of  Leibnitz.  He  was  succeeded  as  a  chemical 
pathologist  by  Sylvius  de  le  Boe,  professor  at  Leyden, 
whose  doctrines  of  alkalies,  acids,  and  effervescence 
long  disgraced  the  science. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  super- 
stition upon  record  occurred  in  this  century,  that  of 
the  Sympathetic  Powder  of  Sir  Kenelm  Digby, 
knight  of  Montpellier.  Whenever  any  wound  had 
been  inflicted,  this  powder  was  applied  to  the  weapon 
that  had  inflicted  it,  which  was,  moreover,  covered 
with  ointment,  and  dressed  two  or  three  times  a 
day.     This  practice  is  repeatedly  alluded  to  by  the 


S  YMPA  THE  TIC  PO  WDERS  AND  UNG  UENTS. 


237 


poets;  thus,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  the  "Lay  of  the 
Last  Minstrel": — 

"But  she  has  ta'en  the  broken  lance, 
And  wash'cl  it  from  the  clotted  gore, 
And  salv'd  the  splinter  o'er  and  o'er. 
William  of  Deloraine,  in  trance. 
Whene'er  she  turn'd  it  round  and  round, 
Twisted  as  if  she  gall'd  his  wound. 
Then  to  her  maidens  she  did  say. 
That  he  should  be  whole  man  and  sound." 

Long  after  this  period  the  formularies  contained 
an  "armatory  unguent,"  which  was  applied  to  the 
instrument.  According  to  Lord  Bacon,  the  wound 
was  washed  clean,  "and  then  bound  up  close  in  fine 
linen,  and  no  more  dressing  renewed  till  it  was 
whole."  Under  such  treatment  it  was  of  little  im- 
portance what  application  was  made  to  the  instru- 
ment; binding  up  the  wound,  bringing  the  edges  in 
apposition,  defending  it  from  extraneous  irritants, 
and  leaving  it  to  the  restorative  power  which  is 
seated  in  almost  every  part  of  an  organized  body, 
is  the  approved  mode  of  managing  incised  wounds 
at  the  present  day. 

Dry  den  alludes  to  the  superstition  just  referred  to 
more  than  once  in  his  "Tempest;  or.  Enchanted 
Island."  Thus,  Miranda,  when  she  enters  with 
Hippolito's  sword  wrapt  up: — 

Hip.  O,  my  wounds  pain  me  ! 

(^8he  unwi'cips  the  sword.) 
Mir.  I  am  come  to  ease  you. 
Hip.  Alas  !  I  feel  the  cold  air  come  to  me  ; 
My  wound  shoots  worse  than  ever. 

{She  wipes  and  anoints  the  sword. ) 


238  .      HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE, 

Mir.  Does  it  still  grieve  you  ? 

Hip.  ISTow  metliinks  there  's  something  laid  just  upon  it. 

Mir.  Do  you  find  no  ease  ? 

Hip.  Yes,  yes  ;  upon  the  sudden  all  this  pain 

Is  leaving  me.     Sweet  Heaven,  how  I  am  eased  !" 

Act.  V.  Scene  II. 
The  school  of  Paris  most  firmly  rejected  the 
theosophical  and  chemical  pathology.  John  Riolan 
and  Guy  Patin  were  irreconcilable  adversaries  of 
those  pernicious  doctrines,  which,  however,  after 
their  death,  met  with  a  more  favorable  reception, 
and  were  soon  professed  almost  exclusively  not 
only  at  Paris  but  in  all  the  other  schools  of  France. 
England  at  first  adopted  the  chemical  doctrine,  the 
celebrated  Thomas  Willis  being  one  of  the  most 
zealous  propagators  of  the  erroneous  propositions  of 
Paracelsus.  The  physicians  of  Italy  also  soon  re- 
ceived the  contagion;  but  about  the  latter  end  of 
the  seventeenth  or  commencement  of  the  eighteenth 
century  a  mathematical  sect  may  be  said  to  have 
arisen.  The  application  of  mathematics  to  astro- 
nomy by  Kepler  and  to  the  laws  of  motion,  as  well 
as  to  the  system  of  the  world  by  Xewton,  led  to 
the  opinion  that  its  powers  were  irresistible,  and 
that  it  might  unfold  every  secret  of  nature. 

Borelli,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
applied  this  science,  where  it  properly  admitted  of 
application,  to  the  motions  of  animals,  and  showed 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  derived  in  these 
motions  from  the  origin  and  insertion  of  the  muscles. 
His  scholar,  Bellini,  in  the  beginning  of  the  follow- 
ing century,  went  farther,  and  from  mathematical 
data  endeavored  to  explain  many  functions  of  the 


MATHEMATICAL  PHYSIOLOGISTS.  239 

human  body.  Keill,  a  philosopher  and  mathemati- 
cian rather  than  a  physiologist,  calculated  from 
imaginary  data  the  power  of  each  organ,  and  gave 
the  stomach,  for  instance,  a  force  of  compression  so 
great  that  in  order  to  overcome  the  resistance  it 
must  have  destroyed  its  organization.  The  very 
discordant  results,  however,  at  which  diiferent  ma- 
thematical physiologists  have  arrived  in  treating  of 
the  same  function,  show  that  very  little  useful  ser- 
vice can  be  looked  for  from  that  quarter.  One  esti- 
mated the  force  of  the  heart  as  equal  to  180,000  lbs.; 
another  reduced  it  to  8  ounces,  and  both  these  con- 
clusions are  clad  in  all  the  imposing  forms  of  the 
exact  sciences.  This  doctrine  soon  extended  into  all 
the  universities  of  Europe.  In  Italy,  and  especially 
in  England  and  Germany,  the  mathematicians  soon 
vanquished  the  chemists;  but  in  France  the  strife 
was  very  active  between  the  partisans  of  the  two 
doctrines,  and  for  a  long  time  the  chemical  sect  pre- 
served the  pre-eminence. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
when  the  circulation  of  the  blood  came  to  be  scene- 
rally  known  and  admitted,  and  when  the  receptacle 
of  the  chyle  and  the  thoracic  duct  were  discovered, 
a  considerable  revolution  also  occurred  in  the  system 
of  natural  philosophy.  In  the  course  of  this  cen- 
tury Galileo  had  introduced  mathematical  reasoning ; 
and  Lord  Bacon,  having  proposed  the  method  of  in- 
duction, had  thereby  excited  a  disposition  to  observe 
facts  and  to  make  experiments.  Until  this  period 
every  physician,  whether  Galenist  or  chemist,  had 
been  so  much  accustomed  to  consider  the  state  and 


240  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

condition  of  the  fluids  both  as  the  cause  of  disease 
and  as  the  foundation  for  explaining  the  operation 
of  medicine,  that  a  humoral  pathology  formed  a 
great  part  of  every  system. 

Such  were  the  opinions  which  in  the  seventeenth 
century  prevailed  in  the  schools  of  medicine,  and 
consequently  amongst  physicians.  There  were  some 
individuals,  however,  who  still  followed  the  route 
traced  out  by  Hippocrates,  and  occupied  themselves 
in  elucidating  his  works,  and  amongst  the  chief  of 
these  were  Stephen  Roderic  de  Castro  and  Zacutus 
Lusitanus. 

Whilst  the  medical  doctrines  were  thus  corrupted, 
surgery,  and  especially  anatomy,  made  striking 
progress.  The  structure  of  the  lungs  and  heart  was 
carefully  studied.  Malpighi,  Bartholin,  Lower,  and 
Steno  threw  considerable  light  on  this  part  of  ana- 
tomy. Different  physiological  theories  regarding 
respiration  and  circulation  originated  in  these  re- 
searches, Swammerdam,  John  Mayow,  Borelli,  Bel- 
lini, Pitcairn,  and  Raymond  Vieussens  occupying 
themselves  with  this  important  function.  Gaspard 
Aselli  discovered  the  lacteal  vessels  in  animals,  a 
discovery  which  opened  the  path  for  others  relative 
to  the  lymphatic  vessels  and  glands.  The  excretory 
duct  of  the  pancreas  was  detected  in  a  guinea-fowl 
by  Maurice  Hofltman  and  by  John  George  Wirsung. 
A  short  time  afterwards  the  route  followed  by  the 
chyle  from  the  intestines  through  the  mesentery 
was  detected,  and  Pecquet  found  the  common  trunk 
of  the  lacteal  and  lymphatic  vessels.  This  cele- 
brated anatomist  discovered  that  the  latter  vessels 


NE  W  DISCO  VERIES  IN  ANA  TO  MY.  2  4 1 

do  not  empty  themselves  into  the  liver,  as  had  been 
previously  believed,  and  he  made  known  the  course 
followed  by  the  chyle  before  it  reaches  the  torrent 
of  the  circulation. 

The  history  of  the  glandular  system,  in  spite  of 
the  controversies  which  it  excited,  was  pushed  to  a 
great  extent.  Thomas  Wharton,  especially,  threw 
considerable  light  upon  it,  and  first  gave  a  general 
description  of  the  glands,  specifying  those  parts  of 
the  body  which  in  their  structure  belong  to  that 
class  of  organs.  Some  of  his  observations  on  the 
nature  and  functions  of  the  glands  are  not  exempt 
from  error;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  his  work 
rendered  considerable  service  to  the  science,  and 
jDrepared  the  way  for  the  farther  discoveries  of  ana- 
tomists of  his  and  our  own  times.  A  Swedish  phy- 
sician, named  Olatis  Rudbeck,  published  his  observa- 
tions on  the  lymphatics,  but  he  is  memorable  mainly 
for  his  controversy  with  Bartholin  as  to  priority  of 
discovery  of  the  lymphatics  of  the  intestines. 

Before  Francis  Sylvius  the  anatomists  of  the 
seventeenth  century  had  not  made  any  useful  re- 
searches on  the  structure  of  the  encephalon.  Sylvius, 
however,  threw  fresh  light  on  several  points  of  the 
history  of  the  brain  and  of  that  of  the  nerves.  J. 
J.  Wepfer  traced  the  course  of  the  vessels  of  the 
brain  with  more  accuracy  than  had  previously  been 
done.  Thomas  Willis  afterwards  published  a  trea- 
tise on  the  brain,  which  described  in  a  more  com- 
plete and  accurate  manner  the  brain  and  the  nerves 
connected  with  it.  Gerard  Blaes,  Swammerdam, 
Steno,  and  Malpighi  also  studied  the  brain,  and 
16 


242  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

especially  its  membranes.  Blaes  described  with 
accuracy  the  spinal  marrow,  and  Francis  Joseph 
Burrhus,  by  subjecting  the  brain  to  chemical  ana- 
lysis, discovered  it  to  be  composed  of  25  per  cent,  of 
a  fatty  matter  analogous  to  spermaceti. 

The  organs  of  the  sense  of  sight  were  successfully 
studied  by  the  anatomists  and  philosophers  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  J^ewton,  Kepler,  Scheiner, 
Descartes,  &c.,  determined  the  properties  of  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  eye  relative  to  vision,  and  Schei- 
ner demonstrated  that  the  retina  is  the  true  organ 
of  sight. 

During  this  century,  also,  numerous  researches 
were  made  on  generation.  Those  of  Harvey  threw 
considerable  light  on  this  portion  of  physiology, 
and  afforded  ample  materials  for  the  works  of  a 
number  of  physiologists,  as  Hartsoeker,  Leeuwen- 
hoek,  Charles  Drelincourt,  and  Frederick  Euysch. 
John  James  Eau,  Spigelius,  Sanctorius,  and  others 
equally  promoted  physiology  or  disseminated  the 
discoveries  of  other  observers  by  their  dissections, 
assisted  by  the  newly  discovered  art  of  injecting 
the  vessels  and  the  use  of  lenses,  microscopes  in  the 
complex  state  at  present  aflS.xed  to  them  being  the 
invention  of  the  following  century. 

The  improvements  in  surgery,  which  had  been 
so  numerous  in  the  previous  century,  were  less  re- 
markable at  this  era.  There  was  no  one  who  could 
boast,  like  Ambrose  Pare,  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  he  had  been  the  surgeon  to  four  kings  of  France 
in  succession ;  but  the  services  which  he  rendered  to 
the  art  in  the  treatment  of  gunshot  wounds,  the 


IMPR  O  VEMENTS  IN  SUR GER  V.  2  43 

employment  of  the  ligature,  &c.,  bore  good  fruits 
even  in  these  days.  ISTeither  was  there  any  author 
of  a  complete  treatise  on  surgery  whose  work  ob- 
tained equal  popularity  with  that  of  Anthony 
Chaumette,  of  France,  in  the  sixteenth  century ; 
syphilis  and  gunshot  wounds  were  then  surgical 
novelties,  and  much  of  the  literature  of  those  times 
was  devoted  to  these  two  subjects,  and  William 
Clowes,  an  eminent  English  surgeon  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's time,  had  published  "  a  short,  profitable  trea- 
tise" on  the  morbus  Gallicus,  or  syphilis ;  and,  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  "  a  right  fruitful  and 
profitable  treatise"  on  the  king's  evil. 

There  seem  to  be  periods  in  the  progress  of  every 
department  of  science,  when,  instead  of  making  new 
improvements,  the  energies  of  its  cultivators  are  di- 
rected to  the  perfecting  of  previous  inventions  and 
discoveries.  Such  seems  to  have  been  mainly  the  case 
in  the  surgical  history  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Thus  we  find  on  record  suggestions  for  operations 
for  stone,  hernia,  gunshot  wounds,  amputations,  &c., 
and  several  quaint  and  learned  treatises  in  various 
languages  on  the  principles  and  practice  of  surgery; 
but  novelties  were  uncommon.  Much  of  the  tardy 
inactivity  of  the  surgeons  of  this  day  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  art  had  not  yet  been  elevated  to  the 
position  it  occupies  at  the  present  age.  For  several 
centuries  they  had  been  associated  with  the  barbers ; 
in  other  words,  the  barbers  were  at  one  time  almost 
the  only  surgeons,  and  this,  too,  not  only  in  Eng- 
land, but  in  the  countries  of  continental  Europe. 
Even  Ambrose  Pare  had  been  a  barber-surgeon,  but 


2  44  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE, 

he  soon  rose  far  above  that  rank.  In  the  royal 
warrants  of  monarchs  to  their  surgeons,  the  words 
capitis  rasura  were  frequently  mentioned,  and  in 
that  of  Henry  YI.,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  occurs 
the  phrase  valettus  et  sirurgicus  noster.  Surgery  was 
thus  debased  until  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  increase  of  anatomical  knowledge  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  the  advance  of  surgery ;  but  even 
in  1635,  when  demonstrations  of  anatomy  and  sur- 
gery were  given  in  the  Jardin  Eoyal  at  Paris,  the 
lecturer  was  a  physician,  not  a  surgeon,  and  this 
was  the  state  of  things  as  late  as  1671,  when  the 
king  decreed  that  the  lectures  should  be  read  by  a 
surgeon.  To  exhibit  the  still  growing  interest  in 
this  branch  of  medicine,  it  may  be  stated,  that  in 
the  next  century,  about  1724,  as  many  as  ^yq  public 
professors  were  appointed  there  to  conduct  these  de- 
monstrations. 

Many  other  distinguished  names,  of  authors  espe- 
cially, might  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
advance  of  medical  science,  such  as  Conrad  Victor 
Schneider,  a  German  anatomist  and  writer,  whose 
name  is  associated  with  the  mucous  lining  of  the 
nose ;  Francis  Glisson,  especially  memorable  for  his 
researches  on  the  anatomy  of  the  liver;  Sanctorius, 
author  of  aphorisms  on  Italian  medicine,  &c. ;  John 
Scultetus,  whose  Latin  work  was  translated  under 
the  name  of  the  "  Chirurgeon's  Storehouse,"  illus- 
trated with  forty  tables  cut  in  brass ;  the  German 
physicians,  Michael  Etmuller,  father  and  son,  both 
of  whom  were  writers  in  various  departments  of 
medicine;  Francis  Mauriceau,  the  eminent  French 


IMPR  0  VEMENTS  IN  OBSTE  TRIGS.  2 45 

accoucheur,  all  of  whose  works  were  collected  and 
printed  in  the  next  century;  R^gnier  De  Graaf,  of 
Holland,  whose  reputation  has  been  preserved  to  pos- 
terity by  his  researches  on  the  sexual  functions  of 
woman,  and  its  association  especially  with  the  folli- 
cles which  bear  his  name ;  and  a  host  of  others. 

Several  familiar  names  are  associated  with  the 
discoveries  of  the  latter  portions  of  this  century. 
Meibomius  published  a  work  particularly  referring 
to  the  anatomy  of  the  eyelids;  Peyer,  one  on  the 
glands  of  the  intestines;  Bonetus,  a  treatise  on  mor- 
bid anatomy,  deduced  from  actual  post-mortem  dis- 
sections; and  De  Graaf  introduced  the  practice  of 
performing  injections  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
the  motion  of  the  blood  in  the  vessels,  a  process 
which  was  also  beneficial  to  anatomy.  The  merit 
of  this,  or  a  similar  discovery,  is  also  given  to  Fre- 
derick E,uysch,  who  is  said  to  have  first  made  ana- 
tomical preparations.  Bidloo,  professor  at  Leyden, 
published  in  1685  his  celebrated  anatomical  folio, 
with  105  magnificent  plates.  Hugh  Chamberlen,  or 
Chamberlain,  about  this  time  invented  the  obste- 
trical forceps,  but  instead  of  giving  the  world  the 
benefit  of  his  invention  kept  it  a  great  mystery  for 
many  years,  so  that  he  might  reap  the  pecuniary 
benefit  of  its  practical  use.  About  the  same  period, 
also,  Julian  Clement,  a  celebrated  French  accoucheur, 
by  his  great  skill  and  influence,  was  the  means  of 
having  men  employed  instead  of  women  to  officiate 
in  cases  of  childbirth.  It  is  said  that  the  writers  of 
midwifery  of  this  century  did  but  little  more  than 
copy  the  obstetrical  work  of  Eucharius   Rhodion, 


246  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

which  was  "  set  foorth  in  Englishe  by  Thomas 
Eajualde,  Phisition,"  entitled  "  The  Byrthe  of  Man- 
kynde,"  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  book 
published  on  that  subject,  in  1540,  and  generally 
known  as  Eaynalde's  work. 

The  conclusion  of  the  seventeenth  century  was 
distinguished  by  some  of  the  brightest  luminaries 
that  have  illustrated  medical  science,  such  as  Sy- 
denham, Morton,  Baglivi,  and  Boerhaave,  although 
the  fame  of  the  latter  was  chieflj^  conspicuous  in 
the  next  century.  The  first  of  these,  Sydenham 
(1624-1689),  was  a  most  accurate  reasoner  and  ex- 
cellent practitioner.  His  remarks  on  diseases,  which 
are  equally  learned  and  original,  are  extremely 
worthy  of  perusal;  Baglivi  and  Morton,  although 
with  fewer  titles  to  genius  and  the  character  of  ori- 
ginal authors,  deserve  great  credit  for  their  observa- 
tions on  several  important  subjects  of  the  healing 
art.  Sydenham  has  been  sometimes  called  the  Eng- 
lish Hippocrates,  and  the  term  is  not  inapplicable 
when  we  consider  the  accuracy  of  the  detailed  de- 
scriptions of  diseases  in  his  various  works,  and  his 
sagacity  in  observing  the  effects  of  remedies,  never 
allowing  his  theoretical  views  on  the  nature  and 
causes  of  diseases  to  affect  his  rational  treatment  of 
them.  In  an  age  when  speculation  and  conjectural 
hypothesis  pervaded  every  system,  Sydenham  cer- 
tainly deserves  great  credit  for  not  blindly  adhering 
to  any  one  theory. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

STATE  OF  MEDICINE  DURINa  THE   EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

New  systems  of  medicine — Doctrines  of  Stahl — Expectant  medi- 
cine— Systems  of  Hoffmann  and  Boerliaave — Haller's  physiolo- 
gical theory  of  irritability — The  CuUenian  system — Doctrines 
of  Brown — Darwin  and  the  laws  of  association — Brilliant  pro- 
gress of  anatomy  and  physiology — Interesting  researches  on 
the  circulation,  respiration,  nervous  system,  organs  of  the 
senses,  generation,  surgery,  pathological  anatomy,  &c. — The 
concluding  years  of  the  century — Jenner  and  the  discovery  of 
vaccination — Xavier  Bichat — John  Hunter — Other  contributors 
to  medical  science. 

Sketch  of  American  medical  history  in  the  eighteenth  century — 
Colonial  condition  of  the  country — Practice  of  medicine  by 
the  clergy  and  others — Absence  of  all  restrictions  in  its  exer- 
cise— Practice  of  midwifery  by  women — Modes  of  practice — 
Inoculation  for  smallpox — Systems  of  medicine — Medical  au- 
thorship— Medical  education — Medical  schools  of  this  era — 
Conclusion. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  every  part  of  science  came  to  be  on  a  more  im- 
proved and  correct  footing,  there  appeared  in  the 
writings  of  Stahl,  Hoffmann,  and  Boerhaave,  three 
new  and  considerably  different  systems  of  physic, 
which  have  ever  since  had  some  influence  in  direct- 
ing it,  although  they  now  exert  a  much  less  influence 
than  prior  to  the  publication  of  the  Cullenian  theory. 
That  of  Stahl  appeared  first,  and  was  for  a  long 
time  the  prevailing  system  in  Germany.     The  chief 


248  HISTORY  OF.  MEDICINE. 

and  leading  principle  of  this  system  is,  that  the 
rational  soul  of  man  governs  the  whole  economy  of 
his  bod3\ 

At  all  times  physicians  must  have  observed  that 
the  animal  economy  has  in  itself  a  power  or  condi- 
tion by  which,  in  many  instances,  it  resists  the  in- 
juries which  threaten  it,  and  by  which,  on  many 
occasions,  it  also  corrects  or  removes  the  disorders 
induced  or  arising  in  it.  This  power  physicians 
very  anciently  attributed  under  a  vague  idea  to  an 
agent  in  the  system,  which  they  called  nature,  and 
the  language  of  a  vis  conservatrix  et  medicatrix  na- 
turce  has  continued  in  the  schools  of  medicine  from 
the  most  ancient  times  to  the  present. 

Stahl  expressly  founded  his  system  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  the  power  of  nature,  so  much  talked  of, 
is  entirely  in  the  rational  soul.  He  supposed  that 
on  many  occasions  the  soul  acts  independently  of 
the  state  of  the  body,  and  that,  without  any  physical 
necessity  arising  from  that  state,  the  soul  purely  in 
consequence  of  its  intelligence  perceiving  the  ten- 
dency of  noxious  powers  threatening,  or  of  disorders 
anywise  arising  in  the  sj^stem,  immediately  excites 
such  motions  in  the  body  as  are  suited  to  obviate 
the  hurtful  or  pernicious  consequences  which  might 
otherwise  take  place. 

This  theory  is  of  course  so  absurd  as  not  to  re- 
quire comment.  There  is,  however,  as  Dr.  Cullen 
has  very  properly  remarked,  so  much  seeming  ap- 
pearance of  intelligence  and  design  in  the  operations 
of  the  animal  economy,  that  many  eminent  indivi- 
duals, as  Perrault  in  France,  Nichols  and  Mead  in 


THE  PA  THOL  OGY  OF  STAHL .  2 49 

England,  Porterfield  and  Simson  in  Scotland,  and 
others  equally  noted,  have  very  much  countenanced 
the  same  opinion,  and  it  is  therefore  worthy  of 
mention,  though  not  of  refutation.  The  consequence 
of  Stahl's  doctrine  was  that,  trusting  too  much  to 
the  constant  attention  and  wisdom  of  nature,  he 
and  his  followers  proposed  the  art  of  curing  by  ex- 
pectation, the  Medicina  ex2)ectans  of  some  writers, 
La  Mklecine  expedante  of  the  French,  and  have 
consequently  suggested  only  for  the  most  part  inert 
and  frivolous  remedies,  zealously  opposing  the  use 
of  some  of  the  most  efficacious,  such  as  opium  and 
the  Peruvian  bark,  and  being  extremely  reserved  in 
the  employment  of  general  remedies,  such  as  bleed- 
ing, emetics,  &c. 

In  whatever  way  the  operations  of  nature  in 
curing  disease  may  be  explained,  it  has  often  had  a 
baneful  influence  on  the  practice  of  physic,  by  lead- 
ing physicians  into,  or  continuing  them  in,  a  weak 
and  feeble  practice,  and  by  superseding  or  discour- 
aging all  the  attempts  of  art.  Huxham  has  pro- 
perly observed  that  even  in  the  hands  of  Sydenham 
it  had  this  effect,  and,  although  it  may  sometimes 
prevent  the  mischiefs  of  bold  and  rash  practitioners, 
it  tends  to  the  production  of  a  degree  of  timidity 
which  opposes  the  introduction  of  new  and  effica- 
cious remedies. 

The  opposition  to  chemical  remedies  in  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries,  and  the  noted  pro- 
scription of  antimony  by  the  medical  faculty  of 
Paris,  are  chiefly  attributable  to  those  prejudices, 
which  the  majority  of  the  physicians  of  France  did 


250  BIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

not  get  the  better  of  for  nearly  one  hundred  years 
afterwards,  and  which  a  considerable  number  have 
possessed  until  even  more  recent  times.  To  this, 
indeed,  is  owing  the  inert  practice  for  which  the 
French  physicians  have  been  celebrated. 

With  respect  to  the  pathology  of  Stahl,  it  did  not 
wholly  depend  upon  the  powers  of  nature,  or  caito- 
crateia,  as  it  has  been  termed,  but  supposed  a  state 
of  the  body  and  diseases  that  admitted  of  remedies, 
which  under  the  power  and  direction  of  the  soul 
acted  upon  the  organization  and  matter  of  the  body 
so  as  cure  its  diseases.  Upon  this  footing  the  Stah- 
lian  pathology  turned  entirely  upon  plethora,  or  ful- 
ness, and  cacochymia,  or  depraved  condition  of  the 
humors.  With  respect  to  the  former,  or  plethora,  they 
applied  their  doctrine  in  a  very  fantastic  manner ; 
and  with  regard  to  the  latter,  they  involved  them- 
selves as  much  in  the  humoral  pathology  as  the 
systematic  physicians  who  had  preceded  them,  and 
with  a  theory  so  absurd  and  incorrect  as  not  to 
merit  the  smallest  attention.  It  may  be  observed, 
however,  that  as  the  followers  of  the  Stahlian  sys- 
tem were  very  intent  upon  observing  the  method  of 
nature,  so  were  they  attentive  to  the  phenomena  of 
diseases,  and  have  hence  given  in  their  writings 
many  facts  not  to  be  found  elsewhere. 

Whilst  the  doctrines  of  Stahl  were  prevailing 
in  the  University  of  Halle,  Frederick  Hoffmann, 
a  professor  in  the  same  university,  proposed  a  sys- 
tem which  was  very  different.  Hoffmann  was  born 
at  Halle,  in  the  year  1660.  He  graduated  in  1681 ; 
was   made   professor  of  physic   there   in  the  year 


THE  S  YSTEM  OF  HOFFMANN.  2 5 1 

1693,  and  filled  that  chair  till  his  death,  in  1742. 
A  very  remarkable  circumstance  of  his  life  is,  that 
he  never  took  fees  from  his  patients,  but  was  con- 
tent with  his  stipend.  He  was  in  high  repute  as  a 
practitioner,  and  curing  the  Emperor  Charles  YI.  and 
Empress,  and  Frederick  I.  of  Prussia,  of  inveterate 
diseases,  greatly  increased  his  reputation.  His 
works  are  collected  into  six  volumes  folio,  pub- 
lished at  different  times,  from  1748  to  1754.  They 
abound  with  many  useful  practical  remarks,  but  at 
the  same  time,  as  Dr.  CuUen  has  correctly  observed, 
contain  many  frivolous  observations  and  an  abund- 
ance of  conjectural  theory. 

The  chief  peculiarity  of  Hofl[mann's  system  was 
the  theory  of  the  nervous  influence  in  the  production 
of  disease,  and  it  is  to  him  we  are  indebted  for  the 
attention  which  has  subsequently  been  paid  to  it. 
With  it  he  has  also  everywhere  mixed  a  humoral 
pathology  as  incorrect  and  hypothetical  as  any 
other,  and,  although  he  differed  from  Stahl  in  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  his  system,  it  is  evident 
that  he  was  considerably  infected  with  the  Stahlian 
doctrines  of  plethora  and  cacochymia. 

Another  author  to  whose  theories  reference  may 
be  made  at  this  period  is  the  celebrated  Hermann 
BoERHAAVE  (A.D.  1668-1738),  the  contemporary  of 
Stahl  and  of  Hoffmann,  and  who  over  all  Europe, 
and  especially  in  Great  Britain,  gained  higher  repu- 
tation than  either  of  the  others.  He  was  a  man  of 
general  erudition,  and  few  physicians  enjoyed  for 
so  long  a  period  so  unbounded  and  so  unalloyed  a 
reputation.     "  He  first  gave  chemistry,"  says   Dr. 


252  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

Parr,  "a  philosophical  systematic  form,  and  reduced 
medicine  to  a  science  at  least  plausible,  inert,  and 
perspicuous.  We  have  no  reason  to  think  that  he 
expected  to  be  the  founder  of  a  sect;  yet  he  pro- 
ceeded with  the  caution  of  a  veteran,  and  culled 
from  each  the  flower  which  was  to  adorn  his  own 
parterre.  Though  Paracelsus  had  burnt  the  writings 
of  Hippocrates  and  Galen  in  solemn  state,  yet  they 
were  not  forgotten,  and  the  wise  observations  of 
the  Grecian  sages  formed  the  groundwork  of  his 
system.  The  Galenic  doctrine  of  humors  he  assimi- 
lated with  wonderful  address  to  his  chemical  doc- 
trines, and  gave  them  a  specific  character  founded 
on  their  chemical  relations.  The  mechanical  philo- 
sophy then  attracting  universal  attention  added  to 
the  fabric ;  the  vessels  were  cones  or  cylinders,  the 
fluids  consisting  of  various  particles,  adapted  only 
to  given  apertures,  were  at  times  forcibly  impelled 
and  impacted  in  vessels  to  which  they  were  not  fitted, 
and  consequently  produced  numerous  complaints." 

From  his  selection  from  the  opinions  of  various 
sects  Boerhaave  has  been  generally  styled  an  eclec- 
tic ;  he  has  also  been  called  the  modern  Galen.  In 
his  doctrines,  however,  he  placed  too  much  stress 
upon  the  acrimony  of  the  fluids  as  a  cause  of  dis- 
ease, and  as  he  fancied  that  such  acrimony  was  of  a 
particular  character,  which  could  be  neutralized  by 
chemical  remedies,  his  practice  was  frequently  most 
inert  and  illogical.  In  treating  also  of  the  pro- 
perties and  functions  of  a  living  body,  he  over- 
looked the  principle  of  life,  and  the  laws  of  a  living 
organized  machine.     This  error  he  seems  to  have 


BOERHAAVE  AND  HIS  DOCTRINES.  253 

subsequently  discovered,  and  in  his  later  works  he 
speaks,  but  still  in  the  language  of  a  sectarian,  of 
the  inertia  liquidi  nervosi. 

The  pathological  doctrines  of  Boerhaave  long  held 
unbounded  sway  in  different  parts  of  the  European 
continent,  under  the  denomination  of  the  humoral 
pathology,  which,  however,  formed  only  one  portion 
of  his  system,  but  never  gained  much  ground  in  the 
British  dominion,  nor  among  the  practitioners  of 
the  American  continent.  The  Cullenian  system, 
however,  forms  an  important  era  in  the  history  of 
British  and  American  medicine.  One  of  the  most 
celebrated  pupils  and  expounders  of  the  views  of 
Boerhaave  was  Yan  Swieten,  of  Leyden,  afterwards 
professor  at  Vienna,  who  published  a  vast  collection 
of  observations  in  a  work  entitled  Commentaries  on 
the  Aphorisms  of  Boerhaave. 

The  physicians  of  the  European  continent  had 
scarcely  escaped  from  the  trammels  of  Boerhaave 
when  the  doctrines  of  Brown  caught  their  atten- 
tion ;  and  to  him  they  erroneously  ascribe  that  re- 
volution of  the  science  which  taught  that  the  func- 
tions of  a  living  being  were  to  be  explained  only 
by  the  laws  of  animation.  As  already  stated,  even 
Boerhaave  in  his  later  years  did  not  reject  the  con- 
sideration of  a  nervous  fluid,  though,  consistently 
with  his  humoral  pathology,  he  considered  it  as  in- 
active; and  Gaubius,  his  successor,  treats  at  some 
length  of  the  diseases  of  the  vital  solid.  His 
nephew,  indeed,  Kaauw  Boerhaave,  who  practised 
with  credit  at  St.  Petersburgh,  considered  the  in- 
fluence of  the  nervous  system  in  his  work  entitled 


254  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

Im;petum  faciens  Hippocrati  dictum.  As  an  evidence 
of  the  imperfect  state  of  the  materia  medica  at  this 
time,  and  of  the  credulity  that  even  then  existed, 
it  is  worthy  of  note  that  some  of  the  repulsive 
and  ridiculous  agents  which  were  employed  in  pre- 
vious centuries,  such  as  a  certain  portion  of  human 
or  horse  flesh  for  the  cure  of  epilepsy,  were  actually 
exhibited  with  success  in  the  treatment  of  epileptics 
in  the  poor-house  at  Haerlem,  by  this  author  and 
practitioner.  Haller,  though  chiefly  of  the  mechani- 
cal sect,  assisted  the  new  revolution  by  his  experi- 
ments on  irritability,  and  Dr.  Cullen  finally  con- 
structed on  this  ground  the  ingenious  system  to 
which  his  name  has  been  given. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  authors  and  phy- 
siologists of  the  eighteenth  century  was  Albrecht 
Von  Haller  (1708-1777).  He  was  a  pupil  of  Boer- 
haave,  whom  he  resembled  in  the  possession  of  nu- 
merous sterling  intellectual  and  moral  attributes, 
and  was  a  most  prolific  writer,  especially  on  phy- 
siology, and  he  has  not  been  inaptly  called  the  father 
of  modern  physiology.  He  was  also  a  brilliant  ex- 
perimentalist, and  as  professor  at  Gottingen  was 
specially  noted  for  the  physiological  discoveries 
made  by  him,  as  well  as  for  the  principles  deduced 
by  him  from  patient  observation  and  experiment. 
This  led  him  to  establish  a  theory  of  irritability 
and  sensibility,  which  he  applied  to  the  muscular 
and  nervous  system,  by  the  action  of  which  the 
various  phenomena  of  the  body  were  explained. 
The  views  of  Haller  led  to  various  controversies. 
Among  those   who   prominently   figured   in  them 


HALLER—CULLEN.  255 

may  be  mentioned  "Wliytt,  Porterfield,  Sauvages  of 
France,  and  Bianchi  and  Fontana  of  Italy.  Fabre 
of  the  Faculty  of  Paris  was  the  first  person  to  apply 
Haller's  doctrine  of  irritability  to  pathology. 

Called  by  the  duties  of  his  office  to  review  and 
examine  the  various  systems  of  physic  which  were 
in  vogue,  Cullen  soon  perceived  the  inconsistencies 
of  the  Boerhaavian  theory,  and  accordingly  resolved 
to  abandon  it.  Stahl's  doctrines,  to  which  some  of 
his  contemporaries  adhered,  did  not  appear  to  him 
more  satisfactory,  and  in  particular  he  deemed  them 
objectionable  on  account  of  the  inert  practice  which 
they  countenanced.  I^or  could  he  altogether  assent 
to  the  system  of  Hoffmann,  though  he  conceived  it 
to  approach  nearest  to  the  truth,  and  he  was  induced 
to  adopt  some  of  its  fundamental  principles. 

Among  others  he  took  up  the  doctrine  of  spasm 
and  debility,  from  which  he  deduced  all  the  pheno- 
mena of  febrile  disorders.  Rheumatism  was  referred 
by  him  to  a  spasm  of  the  muscular  fibres,  arising 
from  an  increased  afflux  of  blood,  but  gout  he  con- 
ceived to  originate  in  atony,  especially  of  the  diges- 
tive organs.  In  these  latter  diseases  he  rejected  the 
idea  of  a  peculiar  morbific  matter;  yet  in  his  expla- 
nations of  several  other  complaints,  as  for  instance 
of  scrofula,  he  had  recourse  to  the  supposition  of 
an  acrimony  of  the  fluids. 

He  laid  much  stress  on  the  efforts  of  the  vis  me- 
dicatrix  naturcB,  advocated  the  hypothesis  of  a  ner- 
vous fluid  and  vital  principle,  and  ascribed  to  the 
brain  a  peculiar  faculty,  by  which  it  was  enabled  to 
excite  the  muscles  to  action  independently  of  the 


256  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

mind,  and  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  irritability 
of  the  sensorium.  This  principle  in  its  various 
ramifications  influenced  every  part  of  his  theory  of 
medicine.  The  circulation  was  no  longer  to  be  ex- 
plained by  mechanical  laws;  the  angles  at  which 
the  larger  arteries  divaricated  were  shown  to  have 
little  influence;  and  lentor,  viscidity,  and  acrimony, 
either  acid  or  alkaline,  were  proved,  if  they  existed, 
to  have  no  influence  in  producing  diseases.  The 
whole  was  resolved  into  motions,  regulated  by  the 
living  principle,  and  chiefly  influenced  by  the  action 
or  torpor  of  the  extreme  arteries."^ 

The  speculative  doctrines  of  Cullen  aftbrded  the 
first  hint  of  the  Brunonian  theory  of  excitability. 
In  a  passage  of  his  Institutions  of  Medicine^  Cul- 
len speaks  of  a  state  of  excitement  or  collapse  of  the 
brain  and  nervous  system,  on  which  he  supposes  the 
strength  or  debility  of  the  other  parts  of  the  body 
to  depend;  and  in  his  other  writings  he  is  con- 
stantly laboring  to  prove  in  what  manner  these 
conditions  may  be  occasioned  by  the  agency  of  vari- 
ous causes.  Brown,  seizing  upon  this  idea,  set 
about  the  formation  of  a  new  theory,  according  to 
which  all  the  actions  of  life  were  to  be  referred  to 
the  excitement  of  the  body  by  stimuli,  and  all  dis- 
ease reduced  to  the  two  general  heads  of  direct  and 
indirect  debility,  or  debility  arising  from  a  deficiency 
or  a  previous  excess  of  excitement. 

Dr.  John  Brown  first  started  as  a  self-appointed 

*  His  views  are  contained  in  liis  First  Lines  of  the  Practice  of 
Physic^  an  excellent  history  of  disease,  seductively  amalgamated 
with  his  own  peculiar  doctrines. 


THE  D  OCTRINES  OF  BR  O  WN.  257 

lecturer,  and  the  avowed  opjDonent  of  the  Cullenian 
system.  His  doctrine,  which  was  even  more  simple 
than  that  of  any  predecessor,  admitted  only  of  the 
sthenic  and  asthenic  states,  without  allowing  the 
union  of  each,  and  the  simplicity  exhibited  in  his 
doctrine  attracted  many  proselytes.  Brown  seemed 
to  consider  man  not  as  a  being  composed  of  an  or- 
ganized system,  to  which  the  principle  of  life  was 
superadded,  but  as  a  machine,  to  wdiich  a  certain 
series  of  actions  and  effects  is  alloted  by  means  of 
an  excitability  differing  in  degree,  but  generally, 
though  on  the  whole  imperceptibly,  exhausting. 

Life,  therefore,  he  considered  a  forced  state ;  every- 
thing stimulating,  some  substances  too  violently, 
others  not  sufficiently,  and  thus  there  are  two  kinds 
of  debility,  indirect  and  direct.  In  the  former  case 
the  strongest  stimuli  are  necessary ;  in  the  second,  the 
slightest  destroy  in  consequence  of  too  great  irrita- 
bility. In  the  gaol  fever,  for  instance,  we  must 
give  the  strongest  stimuli ;  to  the  man  long  pent  up 
in  darkness,  with  scanty  food,  the  light,  he  consi- 
dered, must  be  moderate,  the  aliment  of  the  mildest 
kind,  and  stimuli  of  every  sort  most  sparingly  ad- 
ministered, as  the  flame  long  repressed  would  be 
roused  by  the  slightest  excitement. 

The  doctrines  of  Brown  when  a23plied  to  practice 
were  excessively  injurious.  As  all  diseases  in  his 
view  were  either  sthenic  or  asthenic,  that  is,  dis- 
eases of  excitement  or  debility,  he  made  a  noso- 
logical arrangement  according  to  those  divisions,  in 
which  the  greatest  errors  were  committed,  exhibit- 
ing clearly  that  the  author  was  more  attached  to 
17 


258  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

system  than  an  accurate  observer  of  the  operations 
of  nature,  as  well  as  his  want  of  judgment  and 
practical  knowledge.  The  cure  was  as  simple  as  the 
arrangement:  bleeding,  low  diet,  and  purging  for 
the  sthenic  diseases ;  stimuli  of  different  kinds  and 
degrees  for  the  asthenic. 

It  is  not  at  all  astonishing  that  a  system  of  this 
kind  should  have  had  its  admirers.  The  labor  of 
study  was  entirely  done  away  with.  When  the  ob- 
servation of  the  practitioner  had  taught  him  to 
which  class  of  Brown's  system  any  disease  under 
his  care  might  belong,  the  remedies  were  obvious. 
If  it  were  sthenic,  he  must  bleed;  if  asthenic,  stimu- 
late. Fatal  were  the  effects  of  this  system  in  dif- 
ferent diseases;  but  fortunately  it  has  now  nearly 
met  with  the  oblivion  which  it  merits,  sounder  views 
and  experience  having  taken  the  place  of  visionary 
theory  and  absurd  practice. 

Previous  to  the  time  of  Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin  no 
one  seems  to  have  conceived  the  idea  of  applying  the 
doctrine  of  association  to  the  theory  and  treatment 
of  disease.  It  is  true  that  Hoffmann,  and  even  some 
writers  before  his  time,  had  remarked  the  sympathy 
or  consensus  which  subsists  between  particular  organs 
of  the  body,  but  their  observations  were  mixed  up 
with  much  erroneous  hypothesis.  Darwin  saw  that 
the  chief  errors  of  preceding  theorists  had  arisen 
from  the  partial  views  which  they  had  taken  of  the 
animal  economy ;  from  their  considering  the  living 
system  as  a  simple  whole,  and  not  paying  due  re- 
gard to  the  recijDrocal  influence  which  the  different 
organs  of  which  it  is  composed  exert  upon  each 


DAR  WIN'S  THE  OR  Y  OF  ASSOCIA  TION.  259 

other.  He  saw  too  that  it  was  only  by  the  same 
orgauic  powers  by  which  the  body  is  preserved  and 
develojied,  that  disease  is  generated,  formed,  and 
linally  removed  from  the  system. 

Taking  advantage  of  all  the  facts  which  had 
been  accurnulated  by  his  predecessors,  placing  them 
sometimes  in  new  lights,  and  at  other  times  confirm- 
ing and  illustrating  them  by  his  own  observations 
and  experiments,  he  proceeded  to  the  construction  of 
a  system  of  pathology  and  therapeutics  founded  on 
the  general  laws  of  animated  nature.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  as  he  advanced  in  his  design,  he 
fell  into  many  incongruities,  and  the  difficulties  in- 
creasing upon  him,  he  was  led  to  assume  positions 
which  were  unsupported  by  evidence  or  counte- 
nanced by  the  slightest  analogy,  added  to  which 
the  language  which  he  employed  was  inflated,  vague, 
and  inconsistent,  and  was  severely  satirized — es- 
pecially that  adopted  in  his  Botanic  Garden — by  a 
celebrated  British  bard,  who  describes  him  as  one — • 

"  Whose  gilded  cymbals,  more  adorned  than  clear, 
The  eye  delighted  but  fatigued  the  ear, 
In  show  the  simple  lyre  could  once  surpass, 
But  now  worn  down,  appear  in  native  brass ; 
While  all  his  train  of  hovering  sylphs  around, 
Evaporate  in  similes  and  sound."* 

Rejecting  as  illusive  all  the  explanations  which 
had   been   given  of  febrile  disorders   on   chemical 

*  The  best  part  of  his  work  Zoonomia;  or,  the  Laws  of  Or- 
ganic Life,  is  considered  to  be  his  account  of  the  Catenation  of 
Animal  Motion  and  of  the  Diseases  of  Association,  especially 
his  theory  of  fever. 


2  6o  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

and  mechanical  principles,  Darwin  traced  the  suc- 
cession of  the  symptoms  of  fever  to  the  irregular 
actions  of  the  nervous,  vascular,  and  absorbent  sys- 
tems; showing  how  the  derangement  of  one  part 
produces  similar  or  opposite  affections  of  others,  in 
consequence  of  the  intimate  connection  of  the  organs 
in  question  and  the  influence  which  they  naturally 
possess. 

Dr.  Darwin  is  one  of  the  last  writers  who,  during 
the  eighteenth  century,  attempted  any  material 
revolution  in  the  opinions  of  medical  practitioners. 
As  at  the  present  day,  various  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical innovations  were  indulged  in,  but  they  were 
confined  to  some  particular  disease  or  subject. 

The  brilliant  progress  of  anatomy  and  physiology 
during  the  previous  century  laid  the  foundation  for 
a  still  further  advance  of  medical  science  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  names  of  many  anatomists 
and  physiologists  of  these  times  are  familiar  to  the 
student  as  associated  with  special  descriptions  of 
the  various  portions  of  the  economy,  the  name  of  the 
discoverer  still  clinging  to  them  in  the  momenclature 
of  modern  anatomy. 

Physiologists  at  the  commencement  of  the  18th 
century  were  occupied  in  minute  investigations  upon 
the  peculiarities  of  the  foetal  circulation,  and  the 
structure  of  the  foetal  heart.  Winslow,  Duverney, 
Thebesius,  Ferrein,  S^nac,  and  others  made  inter- 
esting experiments  on  the  valvular  and  muscular 
arrangement  of  the  heart,  and  Lancisi  not  only 
traced  the  nervous  distribution  of  that  organ,  but 
also  offered  some  unsubstantial  theoretical  views  in 


PR  O  GRESS  OF  ANA  TOM  Y  AND  PH  YSIOL  OGY.      261 

regard  to  the  coronary  arteries,  and  the  movements 
of  the  heart.  The  views  of  Haller  were,  however, 
antagonistic  to  those  of  Lancisi,  and  soon  supplanted 
them. 

Several  prominent  men  in  various  parts  of  Europe, 
Helvetius,  Morgagni,  Michelotti,  and  others,  were 
also  busy  at  this  time  in  investigating  the  structure 
of  the  lungs,  and  the  changes  which  the  blood  under- 
goes in  its  passage  through  those  organs.  In  the 
glandular  system,  at  the  end  of  the  previous  century, 
Duverney  had  established  the  identity  of  the 
chyliferous  and  lymphatic  vessels;  Pacchioni  had 
discovered  the  lymphatic  glands  of  the  dura  mater, 
and  Cowper  the  two  glands  which  have  since  borne 
his  name.  These  discoveries  were  not  followed  in 
the  next  century  by  many  of  equal  importance  ;  the 
labors  of  the  physiologists,  of  its  latter  portion  es- 
pecially, seeming  to  be  directed  to  the  systematic 
2:eneralization  and  collocation  of  all  the  facts  and 
discoveries  previously  established. 

The  investigation  of  difficult  points  of  the  anatomy 
and  physiology  of  the  nervous  system  and  of  the 
organs  of  the  senses  was  an  important  feature  of  the 
medical  history  of  this  period.  Pacchioni  and  Bag- 
livi,  early  in  the  century,  studied  the  influence  of 
the  dura  mater  on  the  movements  of  the  body,  com- 
paring this  membrane  in  its  structure  to  that  of 
the  heart,  and  giving  a  fanciful  view  of  the  effect  it 
has  on  the  nerves.  Santorini  of  Venice  adopted 
similar  views,  but  afterwards  abandoned  them.  The 
opinions  of  Pacchioni  were  defended  by  Lancisi, 
who,  however,  ascribed  to  the  pineal  gland  the  ftibu- 


2  62  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

lous  quality  of  controlling  the  functions  of  the  soul, 
the  power  of  thought  heing  in  direct  relation  to  the 
bulk  of  this  little  organ.  It  was  reserved  for  Haller 
to  expose  the  fallacies  of  his  predecessors,  among 
whom  may  be  mentioned  the  celebrated  Boerhaave, 
and  all  the  feeble  theories  in  regard  to  the  dura  ma- 
ter were  soon  completely  demolished.  The  names 
of  Tarin,  Le  Cat,  and  Meckel  are  at  this  time  asso- 
ciated with  the  anatomy  of  the  cranial  nerves. 

It  had  already  been  established  in  the  seventeenth 
century  that  the  seat  of  cataract  was  the  crystalline 
lens,  and  Morgagni  now  described  the  humor  in  the 
midst  of  which  it  is  nourished.  Experiments  were 
also  made  by  Petit  in  regard  to  the  nerves  of  the  eye, 
the  eflect  of  age  in  producing  changes  in  the  organ, 
&c. ;  and  Albinus  and  Haller  each  claimed  to  have 
discovered  the  pupillary  membrane.  The.two  anato- 
mists, however,  who  accomplished  most  at  this  time 
in  perfecting  the  study  of  the  anatomy  of  the  eye 
were  Porterfield  of  Edinburgh,  and  Zinn  of  Gottin- 
gen,  each  of  whom  ascribed  important  functions  to 
the  ciliary  processes.  The  structure  of  the  mem- 
brana  tymj)ani  and  the  distribution  of  the  auditory 
nerve  had  been  accurately  studied  a  few  years  before 
the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  but 
Valsalva  now  described  much  more  precisely  the 
minute  portions  of  the  ear,  and  of  the  labyrinth 
especially,  the  use  of  the  fluid  of  which  was  after- 
wards discovered  by  Cotunnius  and  Meckel. 

The  physiology  of  generation  attracted  much 
attention  about  the  same  period.  Il^aboth  of  Leipsic 
made  interesting  observations  on  the  mucous  glands 


PR  O  GRESS  OF  MICR  OSCOPIC  ANA  TO  MY.        263 

of  the  neck  of  the  uterus.  Morgagni  and  Santo- 
rini  made  experiments  in  regard  to  the  ovaries,  and 
Alexander  Monro  (father  and  son)  investigated  the 
development  of  the  foetus  and  the  seminal  ducts. 
The  illustrious  Haller  also  embraced  in  his  physiolo- 
gical researches  the  whole  field  of  the  generative 
functions,  and  especially  the  development  of  the 
ovum.  The  celebrated  William  Hunter,  of  London, 
was,  with  Haller  and  Monro,  the  first  to  inject  x^or- 
tions  of  the  delicate  structure  of  these  organs. 

Of  the  microscopic  anatomists  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  one  of  the  most  prominent  is  Lieberkuhn, 
professor  at  Berlin,  whose  skill  in  injecting  and 
preparing  various  portions  of  the  economy  was 
remarkable.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  inventor 
of  the  solar  microscope,  by  which  he  was  enabled  to 
exhibit  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  thus  to 
pave  the  way  for  numerous  valuable  discoveries. 
The  assistance  of  chemical  reao-ents  seems  now  for 
the  first  time  to  have  been  called  into  play,  either 
alone  or  in  combination  with  the  microscope,  in  the 
examination  of  certain  portions  of  the  economy 
which  were  not  within  the  range  of  optical  investi- 
gation only. 

Valuable  researches  were  also  made  during  this 
century  on  the  l^^mphatic  system,  by  Cruikshank, 
Hewson,  and  "William  and  John  Hunter,  and  in 
1787  Paul  Mascagni  gave,  in  his  Yasorum  lymioha- 
ticoriim  corporis  humani  historia  et  iconographia,  the 
first  general  description  of  the  entire  lymphatic 
apparatus. 

The  field  of  pathological  anatomy  was  invaded  by 


264  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

numerous  representatives  of  the  profession  in  every 
country  of  Europe,  but  prominent  among  them  may 
be  mentioned  the  name  of  John  Baptiste  Morgagni, 
whose  work  on  pathological  anatomy  contains  nume- 
rous evidences  of  the  great  erudition  of  its  author, 
and  as  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  medical  litera- 
ture of  that  subject  occupies  a  more  elevated  position 
than  any  of  the  works  that  had  preceded  it. 

The  progress  of  surgery  was  materially  enhanced 
by  European  wars,  which  gave  abundant  opportuni- 
ties for  studjang  the  phenomena  and  treatment  of 
gunshot  wounds.  Surgical  professorships  were  also 
appointed  in  Germany  and  Holland.  The  celebrated 
German  surgeon  and  anatomist  Laurence  Heister, 
one  of  the  most  voluminous  authors  of  this  century, 
and  professor  at  Altorf  and  Helmstadt,  in  addition 
to  a  score  or  two  of  medical  monographs,  published 
a  valuable  system  of  surgery;  and  William  Chesel- 
den,  of  London,  made  important  improvements  in 
capital  operations.  The  degrading  association  of 
barbers  and  surgeons  was  abolished  in  1743  at  Paris 
b}^  an  edict,  breaking  the  legal  fetters  which  had  for 
so  many  years  bound  together  the  surgeons  of  St. 
Cosine  and  the  barbers,  and  the  example  was  speedily 
followed  in  1745  by  a  similar  act  of  the  English 
Parliament.  Freed  from  this  galling  servitude, 
surgery  became  a  separate  and  distinct  branch,  to  be 
ever  afterwards  studied  and  cultivated  by  educated 
members  of  the  profession. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a 
distinguished  lithotomist  appeared,  in  the  person  of 
a  monk  named  Frere  Come,  or  St.  Cosme, — although, 


BRILLIANT  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  CENTURY.     265 

before  his  monastic  retirement,  a  surgeon  by  profes- 
sion,— who  operated  gratuitously  with  a  Uihotome 
caclit^  as  he  called  it,  and  thus  excited  the  hostility 
and  envy  of  the  regular  surgeons.  The  tourniquet 
of  Petit  was  also  devised,  and  came  into  use  about 
this  time.  The  surgeons  of  this  era  were  less  partial 
to  the  use  of  the  cautery  than  their  predecessors,  and 
all  the  methods  of  dressing  wounds  were  much  less 
cumbrous  and  elaborate  than  those  previously  em- 
ployed. Many  of  the  more  refined  and  elegant 
modes  of  operating  still  in  vogue  trace  their  origin 
to  the  eighteenth  century,  such  as  those  for  the 
stone,  the  removal  of  cancerous  and  other  tumors, 
amputations,  &c. 

The  concluding  years  of  the  eighteenth  century 
were  remarkable  for  the  immense  amount  of  labor  and 
research  which  were  brought  to  bear  on  every  depart- 
ment of  medical  science.  It  could  hardly  be  expected 
in  the  stormy  days  of  the  revolution,  that  any  suc- 
cessful efforts  would  be  made  in  France  to  advance 
the  progress  of  medical  learning,  but  the  other 
enlightened  countries  of  Europe  were  not  pervaded 
with  the  same  spirit.  Chemistry  now  for  the  first 
time  became  a  subject  of  more  scientific  study,  and 
more  systematic  arrangement,  and  was  more  generally 
applied  to  the  living  body.  Blumenbach,  Soemmer- 
ing, Yicq-d'Azyr,  Scarpa,  Monro,  John  Hunter,  and 
Cruikshank,  made  new  and  important  physiological 
observations,  especiall}^  on  the  nervous  system.  The 
latter  and  also  Mascagni  interested  themselves  with 
the  lymphatic  vessels.  The  medical  writers  of  this 
period  limited  their  writings  to  the  observations  of 


266  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

nature,  making  their  opinions  to  accord  with  experi- 
ence, and  originating  no  new  theories. 

It  was  at  this  period  also  that  animal  magnetism, 
which  a  few  years  previously  had  agitated  the 
scientific  world,  was  critically  examined  and  placed 
on  its  proper  level,  but  has  been  since  spasmodically 
revived.  Although  not  strictly  or  directly  connected 
with  the  progress  of  medicine  proper,  the  discovery 
of  galvanism  also  formed  an  interesting  episode  in 
the  history  of  these  times. 

The  history  of  medical  progress  during  the 
eighteenth  century  would  be  incomjDlete  without  a 
passing  allusion  and  tribute  of  respect  to  the  immor- 
tal English  physician,  Edward  Jennee,  (A.D.  1749- 
1828),  the  discoverer  and  active  promulgator  of  vac- 
cination. Inoculation  of  the  smallpox  virus  had 
been  practised  through  a  long  series  of  years  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  and  the  inquiries  of  all  learned 
men  had  been  turned  through  the  whole  of  this  cen- 
tury to  some  rational  plan  for  the  prevention  of  the 
spread  of  the  pestilence ;  but  it  was  not  until  the 
year  1798,  that  Jenner  discovered  the  possibility  of 
protecting  mankind  by  virus  obtained  from  the  cow. 
The  history  of  this  inestimable  discovery  need  not 
here  be  detailed. 

Without  advancino;  further  into  the  medical  his- 
tory  of  the  nineteenth  century  than  the  first  j^ear  of 
this  era,  we  may  briefly  allude  to  the  researches  of 
the  celebrated  Xavier  Bichat  (A.D.  1771-1802),  as 
then  published.  Distinguished  above  all  his  con- 
temporaries for  the  light  which  his  observant  and 
penetrating  mind  difiused  over  the  difi:erent  depart- 


WRITERS  OF  THIS  CENTURY.  267 

ments  of  medical  science,  of  some  of  which — as  of 
general  anatomy — he  may  be  regarded  as  the  founder, 
it  may  well  be  said  of  him,  as  Corvisart  expressed  in 
a  letter  to  the  First  Consul  announcing  his  death, 
'-'•  Bichat  vient  de  mourir  sur  un  champ  de  hataille  qui 
compte  aussi  plus  dhine  victoire  ;  jpersonne^  en  si  pen  de 
temps,  n' a  fait  tant  de  choses  et  aussi  bien.^' 

Perhaps  the  most  prominent  name  connected  with 
medical  and  surgical  science  and  natural  history  in 
England  during  the  eighteenth  century  was  that 
of  John  Hunter  (A.D.  1728-1793),  who  was  distin- 
guished not  only  for  his  energy  of  mind  and  accuracy 
of  observation,  but  for  the  valuable  contributions  with 
which  he  enriched  medical  literature.  He  was  not 
only  an  excellent  anatomist  and  physiologist,  but  he 
suggested  also  valuable  improvements  in  surgical 
operations.  It  has  been  well  said  of  him  in  an  im- 
partial review  of  his  minute  inquiries  into  all  the 
various  processes  of  the  organism,  his  demonstrations 
of  the  functions  of  animals,  and  of  changes  of  struc- 
ture, and  of  his  surgical  reflections  and  practical  pre- 
cepts, that  all  his  original  facts,  his  principles  and 
opinions,  are  entitled  to  the  respect  of  the  anatomist, 
the  surgeon,  and  the  naturalist. 

Other  names  might  be  enumerated  as  included  in 
the  long  list  of  those  who  during  this  century  aided  in 
enriching  medical  science,  although  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  describe  minutely  the  nature  of  their 
various  contributions.  Among  these  might  be  men- 
tioned Martin  Lister,  who  published,  besides  works 
on  anatomy  and  natural  history,  an  edition  of  the 
aphorisms  of  Hippocrates  and  Sanctorius ;  Stephen 


268  HIS  TORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

Hales,  the  author  of  various  works  on  statics, 
especially  as  applied  to  the  blood  and  bloodvessels  ; 
John  Freind,  the  author  of  commentaries  on  Hippo- 
crates, and  other  works,  and  of  a  History  of  Physic 
from  the  time  of  Galen  to  the  heginning  of  the  sixteenth 
cerdury ;  Richard  Mead,  one  of  the  distinguished 
writers  and  practitioners  of  England,  the  author  of 
numerous  valuable  works  on  medicine,  which  were 
translated  into  various  European  languages ;  James 
and  John  Douglass,  authors  of  numerous  medical 
and  surgical  monographs;  William  Cheselden,  the 
eminent  surgeon  and  anatomist;  Percival  Pott,  a 
voluminous  contributor  to  surgical  literature,  espe- 
cially on  the  subject  of  spinal  curvature;  Sir  James 
Earle,  Surgeon  to  George  HI.,  and  author  of  com-" 
prehensive  works  on  hydrocele,  stone  in  the  bladder, 
cataract, &c. ;  Henry  Francis  Le  Dran, a  distinguished 
surgeon,  whose  works  on  surgerj'  were  so  highly 
esteemed  that  almost  all  of  them  were  translated  into 
English ;  Peter  Joseph  Desault,  Surgeon  to  the  Hotel 
Dieu  of  Paris,  the  distinguished  author  and  prac- 
titioner; John  Louis  Baudelocque,  the  celebrated 
French  obstetrician;  John  Huxham,  an  English 
writer  on  fevers  and  epidemic  diseases,  whose  name 
is  perpetuated  in  an  excellent  officinal  tincture  of 
bark,  and  many  others. 

[Sketch  of  the  State  of  Medicixe  ix  America 
DURiXG  the  Eighteexth  Cextury. — The  colonial  pro- 
gress of  the  medical  profession  of  this  country  offers 
but  few  attractive  features  to  interest  the  student  of 
history.     Little  else  could  be  expected  in  the  then 


STATE  OF  MEDICINE  IN  AMERICA.  269 

existing  condition  of  things,  when  the  intercommu- 
nication between  various  portions  of  the  country 
w^as  so  limited,  and  when  the  profession  was  chiefly 
remarkable  for  the  absence  of  all  the  facilities  for 
education  and  improvement.  The  attractions  oflered 
for  foreign  medical  visitors  to  our  shores  were  almost 
null,  and  the  American  physician  of  that  period 
could  boast  of  neither  journals,  hospitals,  nor  medi- 
cal schools  to  aid  him  in  obtaining  the  elements  of 
a  practical  professional  education.  Quite  a  number 
of  those  who  afterwards  became  prominent  laid  the 
foundation  of  their  medical  acquirements  abroad, 
and  were  the  active  agents  here  on  their  return  in 
disseminating  the  seeds  of  medical  learning  in  this 
country,  and  of  inaugurating  a  thorough  system  of 
medical  instruction. 

As  in  the  early  history  of  medicine  its  practice 
was  restricted  to  the  priesthood,  and  exercised  by 
them  in  connection  with  their  religious  duties,  so 
also  do  we  find  that  in  the  older  settled  parts  of 
America,  as  in  JSTew  England,  the  clergy  were  both 
jDhysicians  and  religious  instructors.  This  is  proba- 
bly due  to  the  Puritanical  spirit  which  pervaded  every 
department  of  society,  aftecting  equally  all  branches 
of  business  and  education.  Men  high  in  office,  such 
as  governors  of  provinces,  also  devoted  attention  to 
the  practice  of  medicine;  but  it  may  be  reasonably 
inferred  that  but  little  progress  could  be  made  in 
the  scientific  acquirements  of  a  proper  medical  edu- 
cation, when  the  practice  of  this  art  was  unrestricted 
by  any  legal  enactments,  so  that  the  member  of 
any  profession,  or  of  any  trade  even,  was  at  liberty 


270  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE, 

to  devote  himself  to  it,  however  unprepared  he 
might  be. 

That  this  was  the  real  condition  of  things  at  that 
time  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  an  old  law  of  the 
previous  century,  and  this  probably  the  only  one 
that  had  been  passed  in  any  of  the  colonies  for  the 
regulation  of  the  practice  of  medicine,  was  still  in 
force,  a  proviso  of  which  expressly  declares  "  that 
no  chirurgeons,  midwives,  physicians,  or  others^' 
should  be  allowed  to  practice  medicine  except  under 
certain  restrictions,  which  were  neither  satisfactory 
nor  permanently  effective.  With  the  exception  of 
laws  passed  in  N"ew  York  and  JSTew  Jersey  a  few 
years  before  the  Declaration  of  ^National  Independ- 
ence, prescribing  that  every  person  proposing  to 
practice  medicine  or  surgery  should  pass  an  exami- 
nation, and  be  approved  by  a  board  of  non-medical 
officials,  such  as  judges,  attorney-general,  and  mayor, 
nothing  else  was  done  in  any  of  the  colonies  to  throw 
restrictions  or  safeguards  around  the  indiscriminate 
exercise  of  medicine. 

Early  in  the  century  the  practice  of  midwifery  was 
almost  entirely  followed  by  women,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  return  from  Europe  of  several  well  edu- 
cated and  learned  physicians,  who  devoted  them- 
selves also  to  this  branch  of  the  art,  that  the  preju- 
dice against  the  employment  of  the  other  sex  in 
cases  of  labor  was  effectually  destroyed.  The  mode 
of  practice  adopted  generally  in  the  treatment  of 
diseases  was  of  course  mainly  borrowed  from  the 
mother  country.  Here  and  there  some  slight  origi- 
nality was  visible,  as  in  the  partiality  evinced  for 


EARL  V  MEDICAL  II I  ST  OR  V  OF  AMERICA.       2  7 1 

special  drugs,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
opportunity  offered  for  novelties  in  treatment  was 
strikingly  manifested  in  the  presence  of  the  yellow 
fever  at  various  periods  of  this  century,  in  an  epi- 
demic form  of  startling  gravity.  The  agitation 
throughout  Europe  in  relation  to  inoculation  for 
smallpox  was  transferred  at  an  early  date  to  our 
own  shores,  and  the  controversial  discussions  of  its 
merits  were  probably  more  bitter  among  the  physi- 
cians of  this  country  than  abroad,  and  were  even 
carried  to  the  extent  of  personal  violence.  Within 
a  few  weeks  of  its  successful  introduction  in  Great 
Britain  as  a  preventive  of  smallpox,  and  before  the 
intelligence  could  have  reached  America,  inoculation 
became  a  popular  feature  of  practice  in  spite  of  all 
the  preliminary  opposition  to  it. 

The  systems  of  medicine  followed  were  essentially 
those  in  vogue  in  Great  Britain,  and  the  theories  of 
Boerhaave,  Stahl,  Hoffmann,  and  others  must  have 
unsettled  the  prevailing  faith  of  the  practitioners  of 
the  new  world,  according  as  they  adopted  the  views 
of  one  or  the  other  of  these  celebrities,  and  furnished 
them  with  new  ideas  in  pathology  and  therapeutics. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  great  mass  of  me- 
dical practitioners  of  this  country,  or  medical  pre- 
tenders as  a  number  of  them  must  have  been,  during 
the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  were  in- 
fluenced by  their  own  views  of  treatment  rather 
than  by  conscientious  adherence  to  the  theories  of 
any  one  man,  however  elevated  in  the  scale  of  pro- 
fessional excellence.  We  can  hardly  wonder,  how- 
ever, at  this  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  profes- 


2  72  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEDICINE. 

sion  at  a  time  when  there  was  but  little  regular 
iustruction  or  precise  information  accessible  to  the 
inquiring  medical  minds  of  the  country  in  regard 
to  the  popular  European  systems  of  the  day. 

The  medical  authors  of  this  country  had  but  little 
prospect  of  fame  or  fortune  at  this  early  period  to 
encourage  them  to  enrich  the  medical  literature  of 
their  times.  It  has,  indeed,  been  said  of  the  colonial 
physicians,  that  they  only  "  turned  authors  on  some 
special  emergency  of  public  duty,  or  for  the  purpose 
of  promulgating  and  enforcing  some  new  and  useful 
mode  of  practice.  The  capabilities  of  our  early 
physicians,  therefore,  ought  to  be  judged  of,  not  so 
much  by  the  quantity  as  by  the  quality  of  the  pro- 
ductions which  they  have  left  us;  and  an  impartial 
review  of  them  will  show  us  that  they  do  not  suiFer 
by  a  comparison  with  the  productions  of  their 
European  brethren  at  the  same  period.  Some  of 
them  were  not  thought  unworthy  of  being  published 
in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,  while 
others  found  a  place  in  the  publications  of  the 
learned  medical  associations  of  the  day  in  their 
mother  country."^ 

It  is  remarkable  that  so  many  years  were  allowed 
to  elapse  before  eflbrts  were  instituted  to  provide 
systematic  courses  of  instruction,  especially  when 
the  fact  was  universally  recognized  that  a  complete 

*  Annual  Address  before  tlie  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Beck,  1842,  in  which  is  a  detailed  refer- 
ence to  all  the  prominent  works  issued  during  our  colonial  con- 
dition, and  to  many  matters  of  general  interest  in  the  medical 
history  of  that  period. 


FIRST  MEDICAL  LECTURES  IN  AMERICA.       273 

medical  educatiou  was  only  attainable  by  a  visit  to 
foreign  schools.  The  earliest  example  of  medical 
teaching  in  this  country  is  probably  found  in  the  ana- 
tomical demonstrations  of  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader, 
at  Philadelphia,  after  his  return  from  London,  where 
he  had  studied  under  the  celebrated  Cheselden.* 
This  was  probably  previous  to  the  year  1750,  at  which 
date  there  is  evidence  that  a  body  was  dissected  in 
the  city  of  iSTew  York,  by  Drs.  Bard  and  Middleton, 
and  the  bloodvessels  were  injected  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  young  men  engaged  in  the  study  of 
medicine.  This,  according  to  Dr.  Hosack,  was  the 
first  essay  made  in  the  United  States  to  impart 
medical  knowledge  by  dissection,  of  which  there  is 
any  record ;  but  it  is  believed  that  the  demonstra- 
tions of  Cadwalader  were  made  at  an  earlier  date. 

In  1754-56  a  course  of  lectures  on  anatomy  and 
surgery,  accompanied  by  dissections,  was  delivered 
at  ^e^vport,  Rhode  Island,  by  Dr.  "William  Hunter, 
of  Scotland;  and  in  1762,  Dr.  Shippen,  in  his  ana- 
tomical lectures  then  inaugurated  at  Philadelphia, 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  medical  school  (now  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania),  which,  on  the  return 
of  Dr.  John  Morgan  from  Europe,  was  with  his  co- 
operation fairly  established,  being  engrafted  on  the 
College  of  Philadelphia.  The  appointment  of  Dr. 
Morgan  thus  created  the  first  collegiate  medical 
professorship.  In  1767  steps  were  taken  for  the 
establishment  of  a  medical  school  in  the  city  of 

*  A  History  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  by  Joseph  Carson,  M.D.     Philada.,  1869,  p.  39. 
18 


2  74  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

iS'ew  York,  whicli  was  fully  organized  in  the  follow- 
ing year.  The  medical  institution  of  Harvard  College 
was  the  next  in  succession,  and  was  located  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  1782.  The  fourth 
medical  school  instituted  in  this  country  was  that 
of  Dartmouth,  at  Hanover,  ]^ew  Hampshire,  in  1797. 
These  were  all  the  medical  colleges  established  prior 
to  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  the 
period  to  which  this  history  of  medicine  has  been 
brought. 

The  limits  of  a  cursory  sketch  of  American  med- 
ical progress  during  the  eighteenth  century  do  not 
admit  of  a  detailed  reference  to  the  literary  or 
scientific  labors  of  individuals.  These  have  been 
already  described  by  those  who  have  had  the  oppor- 
tunity afforded  them  to  make  more  comprehensive 
biographical  and  historical  sketches  of  the  men  of 
that  period,  or  will  hereafter  interest  the  compilers 
of  copious  and  voluminous  records  of  the  medical 
progress  of  this  country.  They  need  not,  therefore, 
be  referred  to  here,  even  although,  as  in  the  case  of 
Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  a  sketch  of  American  medical 
histor}^  may  seem  to  be  incomplete  which  passes  thus 
lightly  over  their  labors.] 


The  history  of  the  various  revolutions  narrated 
in  this  review  of  the  progress  and  theories  of  medi- 
cine in  many  of  the  countries  of  the  world,  from 
the  earliest  ages  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
leads  to  one  important  deduction, — that  we  ought 


GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS.  275 

to  be  very  tardy  in  embracing  any  sect  or  system. 
The  true  means  for  the  improvement  of  medical 
science  are  observation  and  reflection,  systems  having 
too  much  the  effect  of  distracting  the  practitioner 
from  those  important  objects  of  study,  and  of  re- 
ducing the  practice  to  a  set  form  which  the  ever- 
varying  characters  of  disease  must  effectually  pre- 
vent him  from  successfully  pursuing.  And  yet  there 
is  not  a  system,  professional  or  empirical,  from 
which  the  philosophical  inquirer  may  not  cull  some- 
thing useful. 

Although  we  may  become  somewhat  more  noto- 
rious by  embracing  an  exclusive  theory,  and  by 
endeavoring  to  make  all  natural  phenomena  bend 
to  it,  we  must  recollect  that,  by  such  a  course,  we 
are  wandering  from  the  true  path,  to  which,  as 
years  roll  away  and  time  mellows  the  over-excite- 
ment of  the  imagination,  we  will  •  surely  return. 
With  no  other  motive  than  the  discovery  of  truth, 
let  us  choose  from  the  various  sects  and  systems  that 
which  is  good,  rejecting,  without  remorse,  the 
crumbling  materials  of  which  the  superstructure  is 
too  generally  erected. 

AVhen  we  take  a. retrospective  glance  at  the  con- 
dition of  medicine  in  former  times,  and  reflect  upon 
the  amount  of  ignorance,  credulity,  and  superstition 
that  prevailed,  we  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the 
immense  improvement  that  has  taken  place  in  compa- 
ratively modern  periods,  and  must  be  encouraged  in 
the  hope,  that  as  the  physical  and  moral  sciences  pur- 
sue their  onward  progress,  and  as  the  means  of  obser- 
vation and  exjDeriment  are  augmented  and  facilitated, 


276  HIS  TOR  V  OF  MEDICINE. 

our  own  noble  science  may  attain  a  pitch  of  perfec- 
tion, of  whicli  at  the  present  time  we  can  form  no 
adequate  conception,  shedding  light  where  all  is 
now  obscurity,  and  tending  to  dispel  doubt  and 
difficulty  wherever  existent. 


INDEX. 


AEARIS,  the  Hyperborean,  82 
Abbe  physicians.     (See  Monk 

PHYSICIANS.) 

Abdel-Malek-Abou-  Merwan-Ebn- 

Zohr,  198 
Abdollatif,  an   Arabian  physician, 

192 
Abulcasis,  197 

Academical  degrees  first  conferred 
by  societies,  194 
introduced    at    Salernum, 
211 
Accouchement,  old  laws  in  regard 

to,  206 
Achilles,  healing  powers  of,  .36 
Acron  of  Agrigentum,  101,  102 
Actuarius,  John,  187 
iEgidius,  210 
^schrion,  171 
^sculapius,  36 
death  of,  38 
descendants  of,  50 
feasts  of,  49 
history  of,  36 
remedies  used  by,  38 
science  of,  37 
sons  of,  39 
temples  of,  43 
worship  of,  42 
Aetius  of  Amida,  180,  182,  183 
Agathinus  of  Sparta,  166,  169 
Agrippa,  Henry    Corneille,   absurd 

views  of,  227 
Agrodieea,  the  obstetrician,  144 
Ahran,  Aaron,  194 
Albinus  on  the  eye,  262 
Albucasis,  197 

Alcmocon,  first  comparative  anato- 
mist, 93 
Aleiptai,  102,  103 


Alexander  Trallian,  184 
Alexandria,  library  of,  135-137 
lithotomists  of,  143,  145 
medical  school  of,  26,  138,  171, 

179,  181 
medical  works  of,  144 
surgeons  of,  143 
Alexanor,  son  of  Machaon,  40 
Al-Hussain-Abou-Ali-Ben-Abdal- 

lah-Ebn-Sina,  196 
Ali  Abbas,  Almaleki  of,  196 
Almaleki,    or    the    whole   book  of 

medicine,  196 
Almamoun,  caliph,  services  to  sci- 
ence, 190 
Almanzor,    caliph,    encouragement 

of  medicine  by,  190 
Almanzor  of  Rhazes,  195 
Alraunes,  Druid  sorceresses,  85 
Alzaharavius,  197 
Amatus  Lusitanus,  225 
America,  state  of  medicine  in,  in 
eighteenth  century,  268 
absence  of  restrictions  to  prac- 
tice, 269 
examinations  of  physicians  in, 

270 
first  anatomical  demonstrations 

in,  273 
inoculation  for  smallpox  in,  271 
laws  in  regard  to  practice,  26^ 
medical  authorship  in,  272 
education  in,  272 
schools  in,  273 
practice  of  medicine  by  clergy, 

269 
practice  of  midwifery  in,  270 
systems  of  medicine  adopted  in, 
271 
Anacharsis,  82 


278 


INDEX. 


Anathemata  or  ofiferings,  48 
Anatomist,  comparative,  the   first, 

93 
Anatomy,  first    demonstrations  of, 
on  the  human  subject,  214 

progress  of,  in  Greece,  51,  52 

practical.      (See  Dissectioxs, 
etc.) 

restrictions     to    study    of,    in 
Spain,  192 
Anaxagoras  of  Clazomenae,  100 
Andreas  of  Carystus,  142 
Animal  nfagnetism,  266 
Antimony,  first  so  called,  220 
Antyllus,  169 
Aorta,  first  named,  130 
Apis,  an  Egyptian  divinity,  26 
Apollo,  healing  powers  of,  36 

mythological  history  of,  24 
Apollonius  of  Citium,  142 

of  Memphis,  142 

of  Tyre,  142 
Apollophanes,  142 
Apostles,  cure  of  diseases  by,  179 
Arab  physicians,  practice  of,  193 
Arabia,  decline  of  science  in,  213 
Arabian     medicine     and     medical 

schools,  1S9 
Arabists,  215,  217 
Archagathus,  the  executioner,  54 
Archigenes  of  Apamea,  166 
AretiiBus,  167 
Argelata,  215 
Argentier,  John,  226 
Aristteus,  healing  powers  of,  36 
Aristides,  heroic  treatment  of,  47 
Aristotle,  127 

comparative  anatomy  of,  131 

discovery    of    the   nerves    by, 
129 

history  of,  128 

physiology  of,  129 
Arnold  of  Villa  Nova,  215 
Artemidorus  of  Side,  143 
Artemisia  as  a  moxa,  77 
Arteries,  discovery  of,  132 
Artorius,  Marcus,  157 
Arundale.    Bishop    of    Colchester, 

205 
Asclepiadoe,  50 
Asclepiades,  154 

doctrines  of,  154 
Asclepius.      (See  ^sculapius.) 
Aselli,  Gaspard,  on  thelacteals,  240 
Association  applied  to  disease,  258 


Assyrians,  practice  of,  30 
Astrology  in  medicine,  209,  227 
Athenteus  of  Attaleia,  167 
Athens,  school  of,  181 
Attalus   Philometor,  medical    ski 

of,  153 
Aufidius  of  Sicily,  157 
Augustus,  physicians  of,  157,  159 
Autopsy  or  empiricism,  149 
Avenzoar,  198 
Averrhoes  or  Averroes,  198 
Avicenna,  196 


BABYLONIANS,  medicine  of,  22 
Baecheiusof  Tanagra,  142, 152 

Bacis,  medical  mythology  of,  36 

Bagdad,  medical  college  of,  190 

Baglivi,  246 

on  the  nervous  system,  261 

Barbers,  surgery  of,  219,  243,  264 

Bard,  Dr.,  dissection  by,  273 

Bardi,  84 

Barletta,  Mariana  Santo  de,  231 

Bartholin,  Thomas,  on  lung-struc- 
ture, 240 
physiological  researches  of,  241 

Basil  Valentine,  220 

Bathers,  surgery  of,  219 

Bathing  before  entering  the  temple, 
45 

Baths  established  in  Rome,  53 

Baudelocque,  John  Louis,  268 

Beans,  proscription  of,  90 

Belg«,  medicine  of,  84 

Bellini,  views  of,  240 

Benedetti,  Alexander,  220 

Benedictine  monks,  medical  schools 
of.      (See  MoxKS.) 

Berenger  de  Carpi,  232,  233 

Bertapaglia,  Leonard,  219 

Bertrucci,  Nicolas,  215 

Bianchi,  255 

Bichat,  Xavier,  researches  of,  266 

Bidloo,  anatomical  work  of,  245 

Blaes,  Gerard,  241,  242 

Bloodletting,  first  recorded   opera- 
tion of,  41 
controversies  in  regard  to,  226 
heroic,  on  Aristides,  47 

Blumenbach,  physiological  views  of, 
265 

Boerhaave,  Hermann,  247,  251,  262, 
physiological  views  of,  262 
system  of,  247,  251,  262 


INDEX. 


279 


Boerhaave,  Kaauw,  253 
Bojani,  operation  of,  219 
Bologna,  school  of,  213 
Bonetus,  morbid  anatomy  of,  245 
Borelli,  views  of,  238,  240 
Botal,  225,  231 
Bougies  first  employed,  231 
Brahmin  medicines,  68 

phj^sicians,  65 
Branca,  operation  of,  219 
Brown,  John,  system  of,  256 
Bruchium,  library  and  museum  of, 

138,  144 
Brunonian  theory,  256 
Burrhus,  F.  J.,  242 
Byrthe  of  mankynde,  246 


(^ADWALADER,  Thomas,  lectures 
J     by,  273 

Caliphs,  medicine  under  the,  190 

Callianax,  142 

Callimachus,  142 

Campo,  monk  of  Farfa,  205 

Canon  of  Avicenna,  197 

Cassius,  the  iatrosophist,  109 

Castro,  Stephen  Roderic  de,  240 

Cathedrals,  medical  schools  of,  203 

Cato,   Porcius,  censor   and   practi- 
tioner, 55 

Cautery,  use  of,  in  China,  77 

Celibacy   of  physicians    of  middle 
ages,  206 

Celsus,  Cornelius,  152,  160 
surgery  of,  162 
views  and  works  of,  161 

Celts,  medicine  of,  84 

Cerlata,  Peter  de  la,  215 

Chaldeans,  medicine  of,  22 

Chamberlen,  or  Chamberlain,   for- 
ceps of,  245 

Charidemus,  143 

Charlatans,  in  Greece,  103 

Charlemagne,  medicine  at  the  court 
of,  202 

Charms,  cures  by,  at  Rome,  55 

Chauliac,  Guy  de,  213,216 

Chaumette,   Anthony,   surgery   of, 
243 

Chemical  medicines,  first  used,  230 
opposition  to,  249 
sect,  230 

Chemistry   applied   to   physiology, 
263 

Cheselden,  William,  264,  268 


Chinese,  medical  absurdities  of,  80 
medical  schools  of,  72 
medicine  of,  22,  71 
physicians,  code  of,  72 
physiology  of,  73 

Chiron,  healing  powers  of,  36,  37 

Chirurgeon's  storehouse,  244 

Christianity,  efi"ect  of,  on  medicine, 
179 

Chrysolore,  Emmanuel,  lectures  of, 
220 

Chrysermus,  142 

Circulation  of  the  blood,  discovery 
of,  234 
Chinese  notions  of,  74 

Clergy  practitioners.      (See   Monk 

PRACTITIONERS  ) 

Clinical  teaching,   Martial's  satire 

on,  165 
Clodius,  157 

Clowes,  "William,  works  of,  243 
Coan  sage.     (See  Hippocrates.) 
Code  afi'ecting  physicians,  203 
Coimbra,  school  of,  191 
College    of    Physicians   of   London 
founded,  224 
of  Surgery  of   Paris,  advance 
of,  232 
Colomb,  201 
Colot,  Germain,  230 

Laurent,  231 
Come,  Frere,  lithotome  of,  264 
Conciliators,  eclectic,  236 
Constantine  the  African,  207 
j  Continent  of  Rhazes,  195 
j  Convents,  medical  schools  of,  202 
I  Cophon,210 
Cordova,  academy  and  library  of, 

191 
Cornarus,  translation  of  Hippocra- 
tes by,  224 
Cotunnius  on  the  ear,  262 
Cowper,   discovery   of   glands    of, 

261 
Crinas  of  Marseilles,  164 
Critical  days  of  Hippocrates,  116 
Cruikshank  on  the  lymphatics,  263 

physiological  views  of,  265 
Crusaders,  influence  of,  on  medical 

science,  208 
Cullen,  system  of,  247,  255 
Cullenian  theory,  247,  255 
Cycle,  resumptive,  169 
metasyncritic,  169 
Cycles  of  the  methodists,  169 


28o 


INDEX. 


Cyclus  Tomitorius,  169 
Cydias,  142 


DARTMOUTH  medical  school  es- 
tablished, 274 
Darwin,  Erasmus,  doctrine  of  asso- 
ciation of,  258 
Dead  bodies,  burning  of,  52 
burial  of,  52 
respect  for,  51 
Death  of  patients  attributed  to  dis- 
obedience, ic,  47 
Definitiones  Medicae,  225 
DeGraaf.     (See  Graaf.) 
Demetrius  of  Apamea,  142 

Pepagomenus,work  of,  on  gout, 
188 
Democedes  of  Crotona,  cures  of,  101 
Democritus  of  Abdera,  101,  107,  109 
Demons,  influence  of,  in  disease,  227 
Derivation,  controversies  on,  226 
Desault,  Peter  Joseph,  268 
Diana,  healing  powers  of,  36 
Diatritoi,  169 
Didon,  Abbe  of  Sens,  205 
Digbv,  Sir  K.,  sympathetic  powder 

of,^236 
Dioscorides,  142,  166 
Dispensatory,  first   publication   of, 

193 
Dissection  of  human  bodies,  first,  214 

Egyptian  aversion  for,  34 
Dockenbourg,  Hans  de,  219 
Doctor,  title  first  used,  211 
Dogmatic  school,  126 
Dominico,  Abbe  of  Pescara,  205 
Douglass,  James,  works  of,  268 

John,  works  of,  268 
Dracon,  son  of  Hippocrates,  111,  126 
Drelincourt,  Charles,  242 
Druid  physicians,  84 
Dschondisabour,  medical  school  in, 

182,  193 
Dubois,  James,  233 
Duodenum  first  named,  139 
Duretus,  225 

Duverney,     experiments      on      the 
heart,  260 
on  the  lymphatics,  261 


EAELE,  Sir  James,  works  of,  268 
Ebn-Beithas,  198 
Eclectic  conciliators,  236 


Eclectics,  166 

Edessa,  medical  school  of,  181 
Egyptians,  aversion   to    dissection, 
34 

chemistry  of,  34 

imperfection  of  medical  know- 
ledge of,  35 

medical  works  of,  27 

medicines  used  b}',  31 

metallurgy  of,  34 

pharmacj'  of,  35 

state  of  medicine  among,  23 
Embalming,  Egyptian   process   of, 

31 
Embre,  book  so  called,  24 
Empedocles  of  Agrigentum,  94 

medical  services  of,  95 

physiological  views  of,  97 

public  services  of,  95 
Empire    of   the    East,    jirogress   of 
medicine  in,  189 

of  the  West,  progress  of  medi- 
cine in,  189 
Empirical  school,  146 
Empiricism,  146 
Empirics,  doctrines  of,  146-152 
Epicharmus,  medical  works  of,  99 
Epidemic  of  sixth  century,  183 
Epididymus,  discovery  of,  139 
Epilepsy,  superstitious  cures  of,  254 
Episyntbetics,  166 
Erasistratus,  138,  141 
Erigenes,  201 
Eros,  210 
Erotian,  Lexicon  Hippocraticum  of, 

166 
Esmun,  worship  of.  26 
Etmuller,  Michael,  244 
Eubages,  84 
Eucharius  Rhodion,  obstetric  work 

of,  245 
Eudemus,  142,  159 
Euryphon,  theories  of,  101 
Eurypylus,  surgical   treatment  of, 

40 
Eustachius,  233 

Excitability,  Brown's  theory  of,  257 
Expectant  medicine,  249 
Eye,  nomenclature  of,  by  Herophi- 
lus,  139 


FABRE,  255 
Fabricius   ab   Acquapendente, 
233 


INDEX. 


281 


Fabricius  Hildanus,  232 
Fallopius,  Gabriel,  232,  233 
Feasts  of  iEsculapius,  49 
Fees  of  physicians   in   the   middle 

ages,  203 
Fernelius,  224,  225 
Ferrein  on  the  heart,  260 
Foesius  of  Dijon,  works  of,  225 
Fontana,  255 

Forceps,  obstetrical,  invented,  245 
Forestius  on  prognosis,  225 
Fracastorius,  224 
Franco,  Peter,  lithotomist,  231 
Freedmen,  sale  of  medicines  by,  at 

Rome,  53 
Freind,  John,  works  of,  268 


GAIUS,  142 
Galen,  170 
Galen,  biographical  sketch  of,  170 

comments    of,  on  Hippocrates, 
177 

modern,  252 

pathology,  &c.,  of,  176 

services  to  medicine,  174 

views  of,  173 

writings  of,  224,  225 
Galenus,  Claudius.     (See   Galen.) 
Galvanism,  discovery  of,  266 
Gariopuntus,  210 
Gaubius,  253 
Gauls,  medicine  of,  84 
Gaza,  Theodore,  221 
Geber  of    Mesopotamia,    chemical 

remedies  of,  193 
Gerson,  Chancellor,  work  of,  218 
Glaucias,  152 
Glisson,  Francis,  244 
Gonthier,    John,     of    Andernacb, 

writings  of,  224 
Gordon,  Bernard  de,  215 

Lilium  Medicinee  of,  216 
Gorgasus,  son  of  Machaon,  40 
Gorgias  Leontinus,  107 
Gorraius,  writings  of,  225 
Gorris,  De,  writings  of,  225 
Graaff,  Reginald  de,  245 
Grande  Chirurgie  of  Salicet,  213 
Greece,  charlatans  in,  103 

early  study  of  anatomy  in,  52 

medicine  of,  86 

military  surgeons  of,  103 

physicians   of,  laws   affecting, 
102 


Greek  physicians  at  Rome,  53 
Greeks,   ancient,  medicine   of,    36, 
38 
wjitings  of,  226 
Guillemeau,  231 
Gumnasoi,  102 

Gunshot  wounds  a  surgical  novelty, 
231 
literature  of,  243 
modern  treatment  of,  243 
Gymnasiaof  ancient  Greece,  48,  102 
Gymnasiarch,  102 
Gymnastic  physicians,  102 


HALES,  Stephen,  works  of,  268 
Haller,  Albrecht  von,  254 
Haller,  on  generation,  263 

physiological  views' of,  262,  263 
theory  of  irritability  of,  254 
views  on  the  eye,  262 
Hartsoeker,  242 
Harvard  college,  medical  school  of, 

instituted,  274 
Harvey,  William,  234 

discovery  of  circulation  by, 

234. 
views  on  generation,  242 
Heister,  Laurence,  surgery  of,  264 
Heliodorus,  169 

Helmont,  Van,  doctrines  of,  228,236 
Helvetius  on  the  lungs,  261 
Ilemelitus  of  Ephesus,  101 
Henry  IIL  of  France,  case  of,  232 
Heraclides  of  Erythraja,  142 
father  of  Hippocrates,  107 
of  Tarentum,  152 
Hercules,  worship  of,  42 
Hermes,  books  of,  25 
Hermogenes  of  Tricea,  143 
Hermondaville,    Henry   de,    anato- 
mical demonstrations  of,  215 
Hero,  143 
Herodicus  of  Selybria,  51,  101,  102, 

107 
Herodotus,  169 
Herophilus,  138,  144 

anatomical  discoveries  of,  138 
Hewson  on  the  lymphatics.  263 
Hochener,  Philip,  229.   (See  Para- 
celsus.) 
Hhonain,  194 

David-Ebn,  194 
Isaac-Ebn,  194 
Hieroglyphica  of  Horapollo,  25: 


282 


INDEX. 


Hildegarde,  Abbess  of  Rupertsberg, 

practice  of  medicine  by,  206 
Hindoo  laws  on  poisons,  66 
Hindoos,  medicine  of,  65 

pathology  of,  67 
Hippocrates,  age  of,  104 

anatomical  views  of,  114- 
aphorisms  of,  267 
biography  of,  107 
commentaries  on,  267 
comments  of  Galen  on,  177 
cures  by,  108,  109 
dietetics  of,  117 
pathology  of,  115 
physiological  views  of,  114 
practice  of,  117 
public  services  of,  109 
surgery  of,  123 
travels  of,  108 
views  of,  104-125 
works  of,  49,  110,  223,  224,  225 
Hippocrates,  English,  246 
Hoffmann,  Frederick,  225 
system  of,  247,  250 
Maurice,  240 
Hollerius,  225 
Horus,  Egyptian  king,  24 
Hospital,  public,  in  Persia,  181 
Hugues,  physician  to  French  king, 

204 
Humoral  pathology,  250,  252 
Hunter,  John,  on  the  lymphatics, 
263 
physiological  views  of,  265 
services  of,  267 
William,  on  the  generative  or- 
gans, 263 
on  the  lymphatics,  263 
William,  lectures  by,  in  Ame- 
rica, 273 
Hygeia,  worship  of,  42 


TCCUS  of  Tarentum,  101 

I     Icesias,  143 

Ilithyia,  healing  powers  of,  36 

Indians,  medicine  of,  22 

Inoculation  for  smallpox,  266 

Instruments,  surgical,  early  history 

of,  20 
Irritability,    Haller's   doctrine    of. 

254       - 
Isis,  medical  powers  of,  23 
Israelites,   medical   history  of,  58- 

64 


JAHIAH-Ebn-Masawaih,  194 
-Ebn-Serapion,  195 
Japanese,  medical  absurdities  of,  80 

medicine  of,  22,  77 
Jardin  Royal,  surgical  lectures  in, 

244 
Jenner,  Edward,  discovery  of  vac- 
cination, 266 
Jews,  medicine  of,  57 

resemblance  to   the  Egyptian, 
j  58 

j  John  of  Alexandria,  186 
of  Milan,  209 
Joubert,  Laurent,  227 
Julian,  Clement,  accoucheur,  245 


KEILL,   mathematical   views  of, 
239 
Khalaf-Ebn-Abbas-Abu'1-Kasem, 

197 
Kha-Reth-Ebn-Kaldaht  of  Takif,  189 
King's  evil,  cure  of,  by  the  touch, 

209 
Krabadin,    Arabic    pharmacopoeia, 
193 


LACTEALS,  discovery  of,  240 
Lancisi  on  the  heart,  260,  261 
Lancisi  on  the  nervous  system,  261 
Lanfranc  of  Milan,  212 
Laws  affecting  physicians  in  middle 

ages,  203 
Laxum,  a  division  of  diseases,  158, 

165 
Leach  crafte,  monk  practitioners  of, 

205 
Le  Cat,  on  the  nervous  system,  262 
Le  Dran,  Henry  Francis,  works  of, 

268 
Leeches,  first  use  of,  158 
Leeuwenhoek,  242 
Leibnitz,  236 
Leone,  231 

Leonicenus,  Nicholas,  222 
Leonides  of  Alexandria,  169 
Lepra,  cure  of,  by  the  Israelites,  59 
Levites,  cure  of  diseases  by,  58,  60 
Lexicographer,  medical,  first,  166 
Libraries,  celebrated  ancient,  135- 

137 
Lieberkuhn,  microscopic  discoveries 

of,  263 
Ligature,  use  of,  by  Pare,  243 


INDEX. 


Liliura   Medicinae   of   De   Gordon, 
216 

Linacre,  Thomas,  224 

Lister,  Martin,  Avorks  of,  267 

Lithotome  cache  of  Come,  265 

Lithotomists,  distinguished,  231 
of  Alexandria,  143,  145 

Lithotomy  first   performed  by  sur- 
geons, 230 

Lommius,  225 

Lues  Venerea  in  Italy,  222 

Lully,  Raymond,  215 

Lycon  of  Troas,  142 

Lymphatics  of  intestines,  discoveries 
in,  241 


MACHAON,  sonofyEsculapius,39 
death  of,  40 
history  of,  39 
treament  of  wound  of,  39 
Maggi,  231 

Magnetism,  animal,  266 
Magnus  of  Ephesus,  169 
Malpighi,  discoveries  of,  235,  240, 

241 
Mantias,  142 

Marcellus  Empiricus,  179 
Ficinus,  217 
of  Side,  178 
Mascagni,  worlc  of,  on  lymphatics, 

263,  265 
Massa,  224 

Massaria,  professor  at  Pavia,  177 
Mathematical  physiologists,  239 

sect,  238 
Mauriceau,  Francis,  244 
Mayerne,  treatment  of  Henry  III. 

by,  232 
Mayow,  John,  on  respiration,  240 
Mead,  Richard,  works  of,  248,  268 
Meckel  on  the  ear,  262 

on  the  nervous  system,  262 
Medical  schools  of  cathedrals  and 
convents,  203 
ofthemonks,  201,  203,  207. 
(See, also  Colleges,  Uni- 
versity, &c.) 
Medicin  chirurgique,  212 
Medicina  expectans,  249 
Medicina;  established  at  Rome,  54 
Medicine    of    Chinese,    &c.       (See 
Chinese,  &c.) 
origin  of,  17 
Meibomius,  anatomical  work  of,  245 


Melampus,  medical  mythology  of,  36 

Menodorus,  143 

Menodotus  of  Nicomedeia,  152 

Mercurialis,  works  of,  225 

Mesne,  Arab  medical  teacher,  194 

Metasyncrisis,  166 

Methodic  school,  foundation  of,  157 

Methodists,  cycles  of,  169 

Michelottion  the  lungs,  Ac,  261 

Microscope   applied  to  physiology, 

263 
Middle  ages,  monk  physicians  of, 

200 
Middleton,  Dr.,  dissection  by,  273 
Midwifery,   male    practitioners   of, 

in  United  States,  270 
JMidwives  at  Rome,  Greek  origin  of, 

54 
Military  surgeons  of  Greece,  103 
Milon,  archbishop  of  Benevento,  205 
Mithridates  Eupator,  medical  skill 

of,  153 
Mohammed-Ebn-Secharjah-Abou- 

Bekr-Arrasi,  195 
Mondini  de  Luzzi,  214 
Monk  physicians,  origin  of,   63 

of  middle  ages,  200 
Monks,  cures  by,  201 

origin  of,  63 
Monro,    Alexander,  on  the   foetus, 
&c.,  263 
physiological  views  of,  263 
Montagnana,  Bartholomew,  218 
Monte-Cassino,   medical  school   of, 

207 
Morbus  petechialis  in  Italy,  222 
Morgagni,  on  the  eye,  262 
on  the  lungs,  &c.,  261 
on  the  ovaries,  263 
pathological  anatomy  of,  264 
Morgan,  John,  lectures  by,  273 
Morton,  Richard,  246 
Moses,  medical  knowledge  of,  58,  59 
Mostanzer,  Caliph,  medical  school 

established  by,  190 
Moxa,  use  of  in  China  and  Japan,  77 
Murcia,  school  of,  191 
Musa,    Antonius,   freedman   physi- 
cian, 159 
Musteus,  medical  mythology  of,  36 
Myrepsus,  189 


NABOTH,  on  the  uterus,  262 
Nemesius  and  his  work,  180 


284 


INDEX. 


Nerves,  discovery  of,  by  Aristotle, 

129 
Nestor,  treatment  of  Machaon  by, 

39 
Nestorians',  schools  established  by, 

181 
New  York,  first  medical  school  in, 

273 
Nieander  of  Colophon,  lo2 
Niceratus,  157 
Nichols,  Frank,  248 
Nicias  of  Miletus,  142 
Nico  of  Agrigentum,  157 
Nicolas  of  Alexandria,  188 
Leonieenus,  223 
Prsepositus,  210 
Nonus,  187 
Nose,  operation  for  restoration  of, 

219,  232 
Nuns,  practice  of  medicine  by,  206 


OBSERYATIONES  medieinales  of 
Lommius,  225 
Oculists,  scarcity  of,  in  the  fifteenth 

century,  219 
CEconomia  Hippocratis,  225 
Oribasius  and  his  works,  180,  183 
Orpheus,  medical  mythology  of,  36 
Orus,  Egyptian  king,  24 

restoration  of,  23 
Osiris,  23,  24 
Osteology,  early  Greek  notions  of,  52 


PACCHIONI  on  the  dura  mater, 
261 

on  the  nervous  system,  261 
Palseostrophylax,  102 
Palladius  the  latrosophist,  186 
Panaceas,  Chinese,  76 
Pancreas,  duct  of,  discovered,  240 
Pandects  of  medicine,  194 
Paracelsus,  228 

chemical  remedies  of,  228 

theories  of,  228 
Paraschistes  or  operators,  33 
Pare,    Ambrose,    surgery    of,    216, 

231,  232,  242,  243 
Pastophori,  medical  practice  of,  27 
Patroclus,  surgery  of,  40 
Patin,  Guy,  238 
Paulus  ^gineta,  186,  194 
Pecquet,  discovery    of    course    of 
chyle  by,  240 


Pelops,  171 

Perdiccas,  cure  of,  108 
Periodeutai   or   wandering   practi- 
tioners, 102 
Perrault,  248 
Persia,  medicine  in,  181 
Petit,  on  the  eye,  262 

tourniquet  of,  265 
Peter  Julian,  the  Spaniard,  215 
Peyer  on  the  intestinal  glands,  245 
Phacas,  142 

Pharmacopoeia,  chemico-medical  of 
Schroder,  230 

of  the  London  College,  230 

first  publication  of,  193 
Philagrias,  169 
Philaretus,  185 
Philinus  of  Cos,  147,  151 
Philip  of  Csesarea,  166 
Philonides  of  Dj-rrachium,  157 
Philosenus  of  Cos,  143 
Physician  in  ordinary,  188 

surgical,   212 
Physicians,  ecclesiastical,  200 

exempted  from  proscription,  54 

fees  of,  in  middle  ages,   203 

laws  affecting,  203 

punishment  of,  25 
Pic  de  la  Mirandole,  218 
Piso,  C,  225 

N.,  225 
Pitard,  Jean,  212 
Pitcairn,  on  respiration,  240 
Plato,  views  of,  126 
Pliny,  166 

Pneuma,  theory  of,  177 
Pneumatic  sect,  167 
Podalirius,  son  of  -Ssculapius,  39 

history  of,  41 
Poisons,  Hindoo  laws  on,  66 
Polemocrates,  son  of  Machaon,  40 
Polybus,  son-in-law  of  Hippocrates, 

111,  126 
Porterfield,  views  of,  249,  255 

on  the  eye,  262 
Pott,  Percival,  on  the  spine,  268 
Powder,  sympathetic,  of  Digby,  236 
Prjenotiones  Coacee  of  Hippocrates, 

49 
Praxagoras   of  Cos,  discoveries  of, 

132 
Prayer,    cure    by.      (See    MoxKS, 

Priest,  Ac.) 
Pregnant   women,   old   laws  in  re- 
gard to,  206 


INDEX. 


285 


Priest-practitioners   of  Egypt,   24, 
26 

diet  of,  28 
Priests,  Grecian,  cures  by,  44 

medicines  of,  46 
Printing,    effect    of    invention    of, 

222 
Prophets,  miraculous  cures  by,  62 
Prosper  Alpinus,  225 
Ptolemies,  era  of,  134 
Pulse,  Chinese  exploration  of,  75 
Pyrrho,  147 
Pyrrhonism,  147 
Pythagoras,  87 

dietetics  of,  88 

disciples  of,  88 

medical  practice  of,  92 

views  of,  87 
Pythagoreans,  views  of,  89 


rjUINTUS,  171 


RAU,  John  James,  242 
Ravenne,  Jean   de.    Abbe  of 
Dijon,  205 

Raynalde,  Thomas,  obstetrical  work 
of,  246 

Remedies,  new,  publication  of,  49 

Revulsion,  controversies  on,  226 

Rhazes  and  his  works,  194,  195 

Rhinoplasty  first   resorted  to,  219, 
232 

Rhodion,  Eucharius,  245 

Riolan,  John,  236,  238 

Robert  of  England,  cure  of  at  Sa- 
lernura,  209 

Roger  of  Parma,  210,  212 

Roland  of  Parma,  213 

Remain,  John  de,  231 

Roman  practitioners,  Pliny's  opin- 
ion of,  163 

Romans,  medicine  of,  53 

Greek  origin  of,  53 

Rome,  Greek  physicians  in,  53 

Romualdus,  210 

Rondelet,  Guillaume,  227 

Rosicrucians,  principles  of,  235 

Rudbeck,  Olaus,  241 

Rufus  Ephesius,  first  medical  lexi- 
cographer, 166 

Rush,  Benjamin,  274 

Ruysch,  Frederick,  242 


SABOR-EBN-SAHEL,  193 
Saladin,  materia  medica  of,  218 
Salerno.     (See  Saleijnum.) 
Salernum,  school  of,  204,  207-211, 
216 
chief  physicians  of,  210 
decline  of,  216 
dietetic  precepts  of,  209 
dissection  of  animals   by, 
211  ^' 

Salicet  of  Placentia,  213 
Sammonicus  Serenus,  178 
Santorini   on  the  nervous   system, 
261 
on  the  ovaries,  263 
Sanctorius,  242, 

aphorisms  of,  267 
Saracens,     medical     progress     of, 

199 
Saragossa,  school  of,  191 
Satyrus,  the  anatomist,  171 
Sauvages,  255 
Savonarola,  Michael,  218 
Scarpa,  physiological  views  of,  265 
Scheikh-Reyes,   196 
Schemin,  worship  of,  26 
Schneider,  Conrad  Victor,  244 
School    of   Salernum,    Seville,    Ac. 

(See  Salernum,  Seville,  «fec.) 
Schroder,  pharmacopoeia  of,  230 
Scientia  Causalitatis,  24 
Scultetup,  John,  244 
Scurvy,  first  appearance  of,  222 
Scythians,  medicine  of,  81 
Senac,  on  the  heart,  260 
Sennertus,  Daniel,  236 
Serapion  of  Alexandria,  150,  152 

the  elder,  195 
Serapis,  a  medical  divinity,  26 
Serpent  bites,  Hindoo  treatment  of, 

67 
Servetus,  Michael,  233 
Seth,  Simon,  work  of,  187 
Seville,  school  of,  191 
Sextus  Placitus  Papiensis,  178 
Shippen,  Dr.  William,  lectures  by, 

273 
Sigould,  Abbe  of  Epernly,  205 
Simson,  views  of,  249 
Slave  practitioners,  prohibitions  to, 

103 
Smallpox,  first  description  of,  194 
Soemmering,  physiological  views  of, 

265 
Solidism,  foundation  of,  224 


286 


INDEX. 


Soranus  of  Ephesus,  168 
Spain,  decline  of  science  in,   213 
medical  schools   and   libraries 

of,  191 
medical  science  in,  198 
Specialties,    earliest     practitioners 

of,  30 
Sphyrus,  son  of  Machaon,  40 
Spigelius,  242 
Stahl,  system  of,  248 
St.  Cosme,  Frere,  2fi4 
Steno  on  lung  structure,  240 
Stephen  of  Athens,   186 

of  Edessa,  181 
Straton  of  Berytus,   142 

of  Lampyacus,  142 
Stratonicus,   171 
Strictum,    a    division   of    diseases, 

158,   165 
Sudor  Anglicanus,  first  appearance 

of,  222 
Surgeon-barbers.     (See  Barbers.) 
Surgeons  of  Alexandria,  143 

scarcity  of,  in  15th  eenturj',  219 
young,  prohibitions  to,  145 
Surgery,  origin  of,   20 
Surgical  apparatus  of  Alexandria, 
144 
instruments,  origin  of,  20 

presented    to  the  temples, 
49 
Swammerdara  on  respiration,  240 
Sydenham,  243 
Sylvius,  Francis,  241 
Jacobus,  224,  233 
de  le  Boe,  236 
Symmachus  and  his  pupils,  165 
Sympathetic    powder    of     Sir     K. 

Digby,  236 
Syndesmology,  early  Greek  notions 

of,  52 
Syphilis,  literature  of.  243 
Syrna,  cure  of,  by  Podalirius,  41 
Systems  of  medicine  of  Hoffmann, 
Cullen.&c.  (See  Hoffmann,  Cul- 
LEN,  <fcc.) 


TAAUT,  worship  of,  24 
Tablets,  votive,  48,  107 
Tagliacozzi,  Gaspard,    rhinoplastie 

operation  of,  219,  232 
Talliocotian  operation,  219,  232 
Tarin,  on  the  nervous  system,  262 
Temples  of  ^sculapius,  43,  107 


Temples — 

Grecian,  practice  of  medicine 

in,  43 
guardians  of,  47 
practice    of    medicine    in,    24, 
87 
Thales,  theories  of,  101 
Theath  or  Thouth,  worship  of,  24 
Thebesius  on  the  heart,  260 
Themison  of  Laodicea,  157 

pathology  and  practice  of,  158, 
159 
Theodocus,  189 
Theodore  of   Canterbury,   medical 

teachings  of,  201 
Theodorus  Priscianus,  178 
Theodunus,  189 
Theophrastus  of  Eresus,  131 
Theophilus  Philotheus,  185 
Theosophy  mingled  with  medicine, 

209,  227 
Thessalus,  son  of  Hippocrates,  111, 

126 
Thessalus  Trallianus,  and  his  char- 
latanry, 164 
Thieddeg  of  Prague,  204 
Tobias,  bishop  of  Rosa,  202 
Toledo,  school  of,  191 
Touch,  cure  by,  209 
Tourniquet  of  Petit,  265 
Toxaris,  82 

Toxicologists,  royal,  153 
Trallian,  Alexander,  184 

practice  of,  185 
Trepanning  first  performed  by  sur- 
geons, 230 
Trotula,  210 


UNITED  STATES,  medical  pro- 
gress of.     (See  America.) 
University  of  Naples  founded,  210 
of  Messina  founded,  210 
of  Peiinsylvania,  foundation  of, 
273.   (See  also  School,  Col- 
lege, <tc.) 
Urinary   diseases,  treatment  of,  in 
16th  century,  231 


VACCINATION,  discovery  of,  266 
V      Valentine,  Basil,  chemical  dis- 
coveries of,  220 


INDEX. 


287 


Valsalva,  on  the  ear,  262 

Van  Helraont,  228,  23G 

Van    Swieten,     commentaries     of, 

253 
Vavasseur,  Guillaume,  232 
Veins,  valves  of,  discovered,  233 
Vena  cava,  valves  of,  first  observed, 

142 
Vesalius,  Andreas,  232,  233 
Veterinary  art,  works  on,  187 
Vettius  Valens,  159 
Vianeo,  Vincent,  219 
Vicq  d'Azyr,  physiological  views  of, 

265 
Vigo  the  Genoese,  works  of,  231 
Vieussens,  Raymond,  240 
Vindicianus,  178 
Vision,  study  of  organs  of,  242 
Votive  tablets,  48,  107 


WEPFER,  J.  J.,  241 
Wharton,  Thomas,  241 
Whytt,  253 

Willis,  Thomas,  views  of,  238,  241 
Wine,  Pramnian,  prescribed,  39 
Winslow,      experiments      on      the 

heart,  260 
Wirsung,  John  George,  240 
Wodestoke,  William    de,  Abbot  of 

Croxton,  205 
Wurz,  Felix,  231 


ZACUTUS  Lusitanus,  writings  of, 
240 
Zamolxis,y82 
Zeno  of  Cyprus,  179 
Zenon  of  Laodicea,  142 
Zinn  on  the  eye,  262 
Zwinger  of  Basle,  225 


rHE  END. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 


MAR  1  9  1987 

kECD 


PSD  2343    9/77 


iiHiiiiniiiil 


3   1158  00351  "SS 


